ITS A DIFFERENT MARKET: PPA 2013 NOTES

There are some inescapable realities hindering growth in our industry. In the 1980s growth was 15% per year. In the 1990s it was close to 10% but since 2000 it has leveled. This is not just in North America, but worldwide. Gardeners are changing. The boomers are downsizing, gen-X is looking for more personalized service and the millenials are barely interested at all. Societies are becoming more urbanized, which means no new traditional gardens. Boomers are still paying bills in our industry, but they are also looking after their parents and supporting their kids. The new consumer is two generations removed from the land. They just dont get it. The old values connected to gardening are fading. Our job is to get gardening into the DNA of these folks.

SO WHATS A RETAILER TO DO?

Brain Minter of Minter Country Gardens says Were in the inspiration business. What values are we selling? Tide was always about getting clothes clean. But now cold water Tide is about saving energy. Think about groundcovers, does the term signify anything, or is Lawn Alternatives more evocative. Do we still refer to artificial plants or is the new term Permanents? How are plants connected to todays lifestyle? Do they still have relevance? These are questions we must answer. Think about the following, can you leverage these ideas into sales opportunities? -Kids learn 20% better in an environment with plants. -In growing cities people more than ever need a place to escape and to de-stress. Theres nothing like a small private green space to call your own. People have an innate need to be outside. How is our industry catering to this? Are we really selling it? -Healing gardens, explore the scents, sounds and sights that connect people to plants. -Clean air plants, can we do more to promote the use of indoor plants to purify air in the home? -Green roofs reduce effects of heat islands as well as energy bills. Is this a concept with retail possibilities? In other words, people need these products, but we need to figure out how to tap into current values. They may not even know they need these things, but what are we doing to plant or promote the idea one person at a time?

PLANTS AS ART
You may have noticed that what sells nowadays are clever combinations ready to display on patio or balcony. But the old combination of Geraniums and a spike wont do, consumers are looking to be inspired. The retailers challenge: Stop putting plants in pots and start being an artist. Were selling art. The acid test is can this be framed? Remember theres no connection to plants among most new customers, so the trick is how do you get them to buy one? Appeal to the designer. Pay attention to the detail. One retailer that does this brilliantly is Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco. They work with the current reality of downsizing and non-gardeners, selling plants as art. Their customers are not self-described gardeners. Mounted gardens are very popular as are gardens in glass. Flora Grubb offers finished succulent containers, various wall plantings and tiny gardens in glass. Customers can pick out their own combos and plant it themselves, or have staff do it for them. Most often the staff ends up doing it. Flora describes these as a gateway drug if the client is successful with their little tillandsia in a bauble perhaps they will grow to experiment with larger plants. The customer still gets to nurture something without the fear of failure associated with larger scale projects. Some may think calling this gardening is a stretch and perhaps it is but if customers want little glass gardens, blue Orchids or glittered succulents, who are we to tell them they are wrong?

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: TO FACEBOOK OR NOT TO FACEBOOK

Its not called the wePhone, its the iPhone. You cant market to the new buyers as a group. Its one at a time but every one you convert has enormous potential to network on your behalf via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram etc. The new consumer does not trust the retailer but they trust each other. Flora Grubb offers this advice. Do something beautiful, young people will capture this with their smart phones and instantly share with their friends. Marketing one at a time through their friends is invaluable. They are far more credible to each other than you are to them, but you have to give them something to talk about. Flora Grubb makes large changes to their displays every few weeks. They tell color stories and set up displays to make it easy for customers to take that photograph. You need to be extraordinary, not just ordinary. The enemy of great is good.

FOLLOW THE DOLLARS: REINVENTION AND EVOLUTION

Tanglebank Gardens in Abbotsford, BC. used available space and talent to open Brambles Bistro. The small eatery offers local meats, cheeses and produce to create breakfast and lunch fare. The concept was so successful it quickly evolved to account for 50% of the sales. The Bistro attracts customers who might never have come to the garden centre and as a result plant sales are up about 20% as well. Flora Grubb has an outpost of Ritual Coffee Roasters on sight. The coffee house attracts customers for a coffee (not a high profit item) but these people are exposed to the various other offerings and network to help grow that side of the business as well. Incidentally Flora Grubb is enjoying double digit sales increases annually. Wim Vanderzalm from Art Knapp Garden Centre has taken a different approach. He introduced womens fashions to his line-up. We were nursery stock retailers, but that market is shrinking. He saw garden retailers in the UK with fashion lines so he decided to try these in his Vancouver stores. It was instantly accepted and now accounts for 35% of his sales. He expects this to go as high as 50% in the next few years. The other advantage is that many plant buyers are once a year shoppers, while clothes buyers are repeat shoppers. That doesnt mean all IGCs should add womens fashions, but think about product lines that would expand your offering and be a natural fit with your location. As with Flora Grubb and Tanglebank, an expanded product offering has attracted new customers who are now exposed to gardening. There is another dimension to this. Keeping business relevant all year is the key to keeping key staff employed all year. This is preferential to hiring new temps every year. On the topic of staffing, Jennifer Brennan of Chalet Nursery in Illinois offers this suggestion. Consider paying your staff an extra week in the off season before their return to work, teach them about new products, new plants, pest control, fertilizer or whatever you expect your big sellers to be. That way everyone will be on the same page.

THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE

John Schroeder from Valleybrook Gardens summed it up this way. This is a customer service business. The tougher business gets the more important it is to get it right. People live in a stressful world. Stress in retailing is unlikely to be voluntarily repeated, but a pleasant, enjoyable, relaxing experience will invite repeating. Alex LaVilla of Swansons Nursery in Seattle, Washington shared his ideas on driving retail at an urban garden centre. Swansons offers constant promotions throughout the year to appeal to the discount mentality. In spite of this their yearly margins are 62%. Holiday dollars are handed out in

May but redeemable only in November and December. This promotion targets the largest block of shoppers in spring and gives them a reason to come back at Christmas. Aprils Rain or Shine promotion offers one discount on sunny days, but a larger discount on rainy days. Swansons also makes good use of their 10,000 plus email list. Sale previews are offered to members two or three days ahead of general public. Do you have seminars? Are the attendance numbers declining? How about a comedian to teach pruning? Make it entertaining and fun as well as educational. Make it an event people want to attend. And as long as youre doing one make a video. This can be made available on youtube or lent to interested consumers. Do you sell vegetables? Host a cooking class that demonstrates how to use these. Be a show off. Swansons does not have garden space so container displays are used to sell plants. A large pot of Oregano Kent Beauty sells around 600 1 gallon pots per year. The spectacular gardens at Wilsons Nursery in Chilliwack, BC, which specializes in Heather, drew admiring gasps from six busloads of PPA attendees. Fascinating gardens dont have to be a riot of flowers. Make it a feel good experience. People are intimidated going into a nursery, says Flora Grubb. Staff here has a zero snobbery approach. People are ready to feel intimidated so we make sure they experience the opposite. To help their customers be successful Swansons has a very liberal return policy. They will exchange anything for any reason. The only question asked is, What can we do to make you successful with this? The fact is Swansons staff kill more plants than their customers. Without receipt or store tag only credit is offered.

SOME POTENTIAL GROWTH AREAS

Edibles are still on the radar. One market trend sees more compact plants coming to retail. Bushy plants that look great in containers and bear delicious fruit would appeal to space conscious gardeners. The added focus here is health. Consumers know all about antioxidants and which fruits are best. Do you stock Goji berries or Haskap berries? Heirlooms and edibles are for many gardeners their first exposure to plants. Packaged solutions, like a shade combo containing three shade loving plants, is another potential growth area. Do not overlook children. One way to young people is through their children. Organize fun workshops, have kid oriented events on weekends, cater to the young consumer with a brightly coloured kids section, sell ice cream or get a pet Emu. Do whatever it takes to attract kids. They will bring their parents. Not only that, but they will be your future customer.