That Festive Spirit

This Christmas, more than any other year, will be a hard one for retailers. I guess that's stating the obvious but it's easy for management and staff to forget that each person entering your store is a treasure.
Treat them like royalty, feed them, pamper them and make them feel at home. Help them choose a tree, decorations, gifts, whatever. Spoil them
Don't forget them.

All clean and tidy?

This time of the year is one of the worst as far as housekeeping within the garden center is concerned. With the weather, lack of product turnover and the focus on Christmas and gift ware, plant areas and even outside the front door can get into a bit of a state.
Have a fresh look around your garden centre and address the issues before they become a major problem. Customers see cobwebs and rubbish quicker than you do.
Get cleaning and give the right impression.

Hot Dog!

I came across this picture on the web and it got me thinking.
Halloween is a growing market in garden centres and god knows it needs as much promotion as possible. Most garden centres have a pet shop or at least pet products so why not combine both?
Have a Halloween fancy dress competition for pets. Promote it well in your local papers and the garden centre.
Get going!

Quality and Perception

There's really no excuse for having dead or poor quality plants for sale. Ok, so no one likes throwing out stock but poor quality won't sell so cut your losses. It only brings down the perception of your garden centre in the eyes of customers.
Many garden centres seem to persist with the idea that it's wrong to throw out plants. It's not, but it was wrong to let them get to that point. Have a llok at your stock with unblinkered eyes, maybe it's time you reviewed your quality control, buying, maintenance, etc.

Make the Most of It

Although the weather is not conducive to plant sales at he moment, remember to stock items that will sell. It might seem obvious but don't forget that wellies, umbrellas and wet gear should sell well in this weather. Stock up and keep a close eye on stock levels to achieve maximum stock turn. Giftware and indoor plants are also areas to watch.

Interesting Times?

There is an (alleged) Chinese curse that says "May you live in interesting times". It's an interesting turn of phrase and it certainly applies to the current climate; both economic and weather wise.
I think the key thing to remember is not to panic. Have a good look around your store (or get me to!) and highlight the areas that need improving to drive sales.

Are your offers good enough?
Is your signage good enough?
Are you buying as well as you should be?
How are your margins?
And most importantly, how am I getting customers in to my store?

Do it now!

The Big Cheese

To promote any product you need eyecatching, colourful, appropriate signage. Think about what you want to say and how to say it.
Cheese anyone?

Thanks to Jusben at MorgueFile for the photo.

Plant Picking Proposal!

It's funny how those outside of retail and wholesale gardening perceive the buying of plants. they seem to think that if you order a certain variety of plant in a certain size of pot that it will be the same from any supplier.
As anyone in the business knows, this is not the case. If you order 1kg Miraclegro from different suppliers it will always be the same product if not the same cost. Plants on the other hand can vary incredibly from one supplier to another. One wholesale nurseries perception of quality can differ greatly from another.
I hope in the coming months to amend this by setting up a plant vetting system for garden centres. I will visit nurseries and compile and independent looking good list based on their stock and my own perception of quality. I am researching it at the moment and hope to contact nurseries and garden centres shortly to see if it's of interest to them.
Let me know if your interested.

I'm back!

Sorry about dropping off the radar over the last few months.
I will be posting regularly from now on so keep checking in.

Anniversary

It's just about a year since I started my company and I guess I'd like to say a big thank you to all those that have supported me in many ways. It has been a successful year and I feel the next year will be even better.
More to follow.

Make the most if it.

I came across this picture on morguefile.com by blue lotus studio while searching for lifestyle images for a client. It just goes to show that you can always make the most of a bad situation by creating a promotion.

Get Moving

With most peoples credit cards maxed out and funds pretty tight, January can be a strange month. The sales will usually mop up the last bit of disposable income in most pockets so it’s usually February before spending gets back to anything approaching normal. Customers could be scarce for the next few weeks!
With that in mind, it’s a great time to spring clean your establishment and get started on the layout for your furniture and lifestyle section. Try and get all the noisy, messy bits out of the way before you have a lost of customers around.
Create a plan and a time scale and stick to it. You won’t have much time once things kick of in the spring to re-do it.
Get moving!