Are You All-In?

by Danny Summers

It's only the 3rd week of January but still a busy time of the year with a lot going on. Group Centers are well underway with spring preparations. At the same time, several important programs are getting underway within The Group. The first two are included with your annual retainer.

Weekly Department Review for 2024
While the WDR is now more than 20 years in the making, last year was the very first year it became an online, live system. Group Centers accepted and embraced the new experience by uploading 5,506 weekly reports! That represented an amazing 97.3% reporting rate! The 5,506 uploads created a tremendous amount of data that is now available for comparison in 2024 and beyond. Tim Quebedeaux has been working on formatting the reporting so that the 100% reporting Centers don't even need to include any of their 2023 data this year... we already have it, saving them more time each week. We encourage you to report every week and save time the following year!

The P&L Study for 2023 - the 20th Edition!
This year, as The Group's Annual P&L Study reports the 2023 performances, it does so in its 20th edition. The momentum for this anniversary has been building with last year's 2022 report including a record 82 reporting centers! All Group Centers will be receiving their 2023 P&L Study Reporting package by email this week. Watch for it and be ready. The deadline for reporting is February 15.

The Financial Basics of Garden Center Retailing – for 2024
The Garden Center Group and Retail KPI Consulting have created an exclusive virtual workshop series designed for Garden Center Owners and Managers to develop the skills needed to maximize profitability. Now in the 9th season, this exclusive series was created by long-time Group Financial Consultant, Steve Bailey. Steve retired in 2022 after joining Tim Quebedeaux in 2019 to create Retail KPI. Tim now leads and manages The Group's Financial Programs including the Weekly Department Review Report (WDR Report) which tracks the weekly sales and transaction data of participating Group centers in 27 categories, the Annual P&L Study, another industry exclusive and the most comprehensive Annual Profit and Loss study of its kind. Join Tim as he unlocks the secrets of Financial Management vital to your Center's success! This new virtual format means no travel, and you can include as many staff members as you like!

This comprehensive 7-Step Series includes 6 Online Group Sessions, plus 1 Individual Session to Review Your Worksheets and Data. The series will cover more than 24 financial topics, as well as key Group benchmarking and ratios. Registration is open to both Group Centers and Guest Centers.

Don't let the title fool you... this workshop goes well beyond the basics!
Sessions begin February 9th. Details, including how to sign up, can be found HERE.

And of course, I cannot consider this "Are You All-In?" topic without including several other Group Experiences...

Group eLists... now there are 14 different eLists from which to choose. One email sent to an eList can reach up to 576 Group Center peers! Group eList previous conversations can also be searched and found inside The Group WebSystem. Our oldest eList, GroupEs, as of today, has 1,239 previous topic threads now available!

Monthly GROUPtalk LIVE Sessions... What began well before 2020, has now become a monthly collaborative hour featuring various timely topics, led by both Group Service Providers as well as Group Center Owners and Team Members. GROUPtalk LIVE is scheduled the 2nd Thursday each month and Zoom invitations are sent through the GroupEs eList.

Retailers' Choice Awards™ and Cool Product Awards... The Group invites both Group Centers and Guest Retailers to participate in the search for new plants and products at TPIE, Cultivate, and Farwest trade shows. While the results (award-winners) are shared through the three major garden-retailing trade publications of Green Profit, Garden Center Magazine and Lawn & Garden Retailing, participating Centers receive the entire list of nominations to see on the show floor the next day. Details for TPIE (this week) are below.

The Fall Event 2024... This is where it all comes together for four days. The Fall Event is a collaborative experience like no other. This past year we set a new record for participation. This year, we will be in Dallas, Texas, September 23-26. Details will be available in late spring. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend!

With all of this, it's time to again ask the question... "Are You All-In?"

I hope so. It can be one of the best commitments you can make for your Garden Center!