All you believe…may be ALL WRONG – Belief #3

Misconception #3 – Garden Centers Should Employ Horticulturists with College Degrees Full-Time, Year-Round and Pay Them Professional Salaries with Comprehensive Benefits
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This is the third misconception in a series of six. The concepts being discussed here will likely be counter to your beliefs. The comments left on the previous posts are quite interesting so you may want to go back and read them. Click HERE to go back and begin with the first post related to this series.

Necessity is the mother of invention. When the facts are laid out and we discover that it is simply not possible to 1) do what we once did, 2) do what others do, or 3) do what we would like to do, then why not open our horizons and explore opportunities we previously ignored.

Career Opportunities are Different for Different People. The times have been changing for quite some time and it is easier than not to lag behind on adapting with our own changes.

All you believe…may be ALL WRONG – Belief #2

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Who says a garden center has to be ‘Full-Service’, and WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE to tell YOU?

Hint: (It’s NOT the consumer.)

What is ‘Full-Service’ anyway?

It depends on whom you ask. I believe the original concept was to provide a ‘One-Stop’ shopping experience. (Yes, consumers responded to the concept, often telling us they like it.) Expanding the year-round shopping potential and increasing the number of items and sales categories so the customer could spend more on each shopping visit.

All you believe… may be ALL WRONG – Belief #1

Garden Centers Should be Open Year-Round – Oh Really?

Garden centers may be violating the Scarcity Principle.

A correct statement would be closer to this:
In certain conditions garden centers should be open year-round.

The conditions primarily fall into three categories.

All you believe about making money in the garden center business may be ALL WRONG

Part One – This is the first in a series of posts that will address Six Mistaken Beliefs many of us have about making money in the garden center business.

I have arrived to the point of developing Six New Beliefs that may be unpopular among some of the “old-guard” establishment in the garden center business. Switching from the mistaken beliefs to the new beliefs may make the ground shake (like during an earth quake) beneath some of your own current beliefs. Some of our supplier friends may find this truth troubling to the future of their businesses. Others may embrace it and thrive.

A New Link or 2

The summer tour and trade show travels brought perhaps the most frequent question everyone wants to know the answer to when we talk or meet: “What’s New?”

There’s a lot to keep up with and I usually fumble a few seconds to come up with an answer to their question, so I added a NEW category in the right column of this blog titled, “A New Link or 2″.

Handling Haggling

Is haggling is on the increase?

The introduction of the new Taggle concept for in-store bidding on merchandise at participating retailers has brought about a plethora of media reports on the rise of haggling. Don’t fall for it.

“Fair Enough”

Your customers are seeing and reading that they should be haggling. They would like to save some money if they can, especially if they should. They don’t want to pay too much, and they definitely don’t want to be taken advantage of. Some fear other customers may be haggling with you and getting a better deal. There is no fault in them asking for a better price, you just need a way to handle the question.

What’s Wrong with this Message?

Enough about the economy stupid.

Yes, we need to be empathetic to the consumer’s need to save, but that problem is that when everyone else who is marketing has the same basic message across all communication channels the basic tenet of marketing – differentiation, is lost.

Inventory Adjustment

We’ll see a lot if we’ll just look. – We can watch, we can see, but WHAT will we see?
The buzz phrase in the garden center business this winter has become “inventory control”.  It has become trendy for garden centers to watch their inventory. They always should have. We will watch inventory come, we will [...]

Why This Business Gets In Our Blood

We have plenty of proof to make our case, however we fail to reflect on that proof and question our relevancy in the world today. We fail to use the evidence as proof in our marketing messages and question why consumers don’t place more value on plants while they spend increasingly more on cars, bathrooms, and gourmet kitchens.

Should you be a Publicity Hound?

I know it is uncomfortable tooting your own horn. Mom said not to brag and we’re all maybe a little too good at not promoting ourselves. However, the art of shameless self-promotion doesn’t have to be shameful. Remember, mom also said to stand up for yourself.

While it may be true that “the meek shall inherit the earth”, I have also heard it said that “the meek may inherit the earth, but they are going to have to work like the devil to get it.” I really believe we can be nice people and not finish last. But we need to think of this differently, know more than we do now about how to do it, and do what we learn.