Feeding or Leading? A new approach to 'GYO'

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Feeding or Leading? A new approach to ‘grow your own’.

I am forever looking at ways in which other retailers do their thing, to ascertain new retail models and understand the way retailers of varying goods and services sell these to the consumer. A lot can be learnt through every day retail experiences.

When it comes to ‘grow your own’, I believe we are feeding the market trend by offering what people want, but are we leading it? Media has a strong position in guiding the public with the ‘grow your own’ trend. This is being marketed relatively well to the consumer, which is why we have seen a surge in this area.

Each time I visit Ikea, I walk away with a new idea – my latest of these is that relating to demonstration. While some retailers have installed 'no dig' gardens, and others have constructed entire veggie plots, I wonder how it is that you link this in with your sales.

Demonstration gardens are important in setting the scene of your garden centre, but unless they walk away from the store having been sold the package, the consumer will be as misguided as the moment they stepped into the store. Education is very important in this role. So what am I proposing is the following:
1. Keep the display vegetable patch simple - sow/plant in rows, or ensure that the patch is clearly defined and each plant is identifiable.
2. Point of sale needs to be simple too and most importantly, linked in with your stock lines. In doing so you might create a 'planting map' - this would be similar to the Ikea model rooms where each item is labelled and can be picked up in the self service area. Take a photo of the punnet of vegetables and include on the POS - you need to educate the newer gardeners by creating the link between what a seedling looks like compared to a full size plant. My housemate recently planted 4 capsicums and a tomato in one 12 inch pot - my point exactly.
3. If you are hoping to make this as self-serviceable as possible, remember that you need to provide the customer with the resources to link between demonstration and a sale- i.e. a pencil and piece of paper, or a physical planting plan to take away.
4. Have appropriate stock on hand at all times, don't demonstrate something you can't offer - disappointment is nearly as negative as a poor salesperson.
5. Encourage interactivity - offer picked vegetables for free and utilise taste as a sensual sales point while also allowing children to pick your veggie patch - remember never use negative signage like 'not for sale' or 'do not pick'.

Growing your own is undoubtedly the biggest trend to hit the retail market in decades, and it is up to you to foster this new found interest in people. You want them to walk away with knowledge and the products to succeed in their ventures, so as to ensure they return - negative experiences are scarring.

So when you come to selling the ‘grow your own’ trend, make it simple and educational, as not all consumers can assemble their own productive patch with no instructions.

Challenging Times Calls for Proactive Measures in the UK

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The retail market conditions in the UK have been incredibly volatile at late, with the global financial crisis pressuring retailers nationwide. Nigel Eaton is Head of the Royal Horticultural Societies Wisley Plant Centre, which has responded to the changing retail environment in a proactive manner. Generating footfall is one way of increasing gross profit, and Nige presents some ideas which they have utilised over the past Spring/Summer season and which you too might be able to adapt to your garden centre.
Overview of the Season Past
At the end of 2008 retail sales in the UK had taken rather a pasting, even high street giants such as Marks and Spencer were offering “discount days” to draw in the customers.

I have managed garden centres through three recessions now, and luckily the garden centre industry has always weathered the storm well because of people staying put in their homes, making them as welcoming and attractive as possible during times of money shortage. On the back of this knowledge, the garden centre trade held its nerve and planned for a good spring and summer, and it paid off.

This year we were armed with “Grow your own” as a great marketing tool and the country took this to heart. This saw a significant rise in sales of vegetable plants, seeds and soft fruit [berries, currents and strawberries to name a few] as well as the accompanying garden care products. This included modular vegetable beds, hand tools, seed trays, cold frames, plant supports, any number of feeds, pest control and barriers. To demonstrate the British consumers love for growing their own, the waiting list for allotments now stands at 200,000. All this activity was rewarded with a great growing season so the public were successful in their activities which only reinforced the success of the campaign.

In addition to identified marketable trends, we held a number of events running for single days or weekends depending upon their potential attendance. With these we focused on a plant variety or collection of varieties to drive plant sales and link sales of garden care products. “Orchid Weekend” is always a favourite in our calendar in January [England’s Winter] and we saw a significant number of customers visiting over the two days for informal talks and potting demonstrations. We then had “Snowdrop Splendour” where we highlighted these beautiful heralds of spring, which saw a huge interest over the two days doubling our turnover from the previous year. “Hellebore Heaven” we have been running for a number of years, but this was still a strong draw as was our “Auricula Spectacular” and our “Riot of Roses”.

Now comes the interesting one - We held an “Agapanthus weekend” where we invited Jason Bloom of the famous Bressingham Gardens and Nurseries to speak. It was one of our highest attended events ever, with Mr Bloom speaking to a full house - in excess of 80 people at each presentation. On each of the 6 talks Mr Bloom advocated for other plant associations including Crocosmia (Montbretia) which also helped boost sales. Interestingly, Ryan Simpson our Australian Special Option Certification RHS trainee (who you will all know) informed me that these plants are weeds in Australia, and he couldn’t believe how the customers were so blown away by them!

I’m sitting here typing this article having just set up our “Fabulous Fuchsias” event (I can hear you groaning at all the tacky titles) and our speaker for the day is Carol Gubler the President of the British Fuchsia society. These plants have really come back into fashion with the arrival of new varieties that are much more floriferous, and the move back to planting in pots and containers. We had a hot summer in 2006 and the trend for container planting was badly hit by water shortage, (nothing like the water conservation needs in certain Australian states) but a knock on effect was the down turn in anything not planted in the perennial border planting.

The future is to find plant groups or ways of growing plants and make them “aspirational” or “on trend” and then get the nursery producers to build on this process with new or improved varieties. Over the last two years we have seen a significant increase in varieties of begonias, grasses, geraniums and hostas and we are hoping to highlight these next year. Improved means of displaying short life bedding plants have also shown significant inventiveness as the wall display in the image demonstrates (Anthony article 001).

For 2010 we are looking forward to showing our customers planting combinations and colour themed displays to impress and inspire. Hopefully we will also see the upturn elsewhere in the economy, while retaining customers we have gained at the plant centre through these austere times. We as an industry make peoples lives better, we improve their environment and on the whole we keep people aware of the seasons that no other industry manages to do so well. The few things I have mentioned here are opportunities that we should all embrace and encourage, as a means of building a sustainable future for independent garden centres world wide.

Anthony’s Response
While much of what Nige presents here has gearing towards the UK market, it is how you interpret and disseminate these ideas to provide you with opportunities for growth. Planning the year ahead is particularly important as it gives you sufficient time for promotion of events, which is ultimately essential for success.
A few things I wish to highlight are the importance of planning and promotion of such events in garden centres. Appropriate planning will allow for smooth implementation, a professional approach to marketing and also allow you to tap into potential networks in the community (such as specialist plant interest groups). These ties with affiliated associations and community groups is key to an event with credibility. Finally, making the event measurable, and not just by counting the amount of people attending allows for appropriate decision making for future events to ensure maximum return on investment is achieved.

Capitalise on Christmas

anthonycurnow.com
It’s the season of the gift fairs and it’s also the time to be thinking about Christmas. I believe there is huge opportunity for retail garden centres to capitalise on the Christmas trading period. Garden Centres in the UK and throughout Europe have developed a synonymous thought within the consumers psyche that Christmas and Garden Centres go hand in hand. This has focused around the sales generated by the tradition of many consumers having a fresh cut Christmas tree in their home. With this tree comes a wide variety of associated gift lines, decorations and summer living stock lines with opportunity to boost your sales over this highly competitive trading period.

Buying Christmas Stock

In a recent article in Greenworld Magazine, Debra Templar looks at a number of simple key approaches to buying stock. Debras guidelines to buying are fantastic, and revolve around purchasing stock that suits your existing customer base.

Taking risks when buying Christmas stock (i.e. – something which may appeal to you, but not necessarily the consumer) is not a good idea unless you have the sales staff and business skills to shift this stock. Keeping it simple and thematical is the key. Be aware of what ‘themes’ the big box stores are focusing on, but do not try to compete with them. Chose two themes with a focus on providing Christmas solutions, and sell these ideas hard to the consumer. Your goal as a retailer is to provide one stop solutions for the consumers’ needs and desires.

Christmas Stock Control Christmas is a condensed selling season, with stock lines that become defunct as of the 26th of December. With this in mind, discounting stock should be avoided, but is often inevitable as the last thing you want is capital tied up in stock which can not be moved until the next September when people start to think about Christmas again. Be aware that sales generated from discounting after 25th December may actually return less margin than discounting the last week prior to Christmas. This is due to the ability to take opportunity of those consumers who have a greater need to buy something (desperation) as opposed to those out looking for a bargain (money scroungers). There is a significant difference between needing and wanting, and this can work to your advantage in moving stock at the last minute. Additionally, do remember that you will reap the greatest margin throughout October and November, than you will in December when you begin discounting as are starting to worry about having stock leftover - this will invariably eat into your overall return.

In my opinion, you shouldn’t even consider storing the ‘leftover’ stock. Christmas is primarily a trend driven event, designed to make people spend money on consumerables none of us really need. Therefore, what is in season this year is unlikely to be the trend of next. This makes choosing stock challenging, but remember Christmas is all about tradition, and the green and red theme is a failsafe option. So with this in mind, having money tied up in gift lines which really don’t produce a huge return without serious turnover, in addition to the cost of space for storage, and the labour required to package the stock lines into boxes for storage – each of these points results in a negative effect by chewing into your overall return on investment.

Merchandising Stock

Merchandising Christmas stock is similar to any other retail line. It must be cleanly displayed, shopable and provide inspiration and impulse. Try to tie as much existing stock lines in with your Christmas displays and themes, as this may allow for a portion of your Christmas lines to be sold even after Christmas as the thoughts to ‘Summer and Outdoor Living’ kick into the consumers minds.
Impulse lines in my mind have the greatest opportunity for serious return, if you market yourselves accordingly. The Christmas period is the time for giving with teachers, colleagues, friends and families all in the running for something nice. You have the opportunity to supply the gift givers with something unique. Personalise every plant that leaves your store – gift wrapping is overall inexpensive and one of the best ways to sell yourselves throughout this period. Every gift wrapped item may contain a fancy sticker holding the ribbon up, and letting the consumer know who you are – ‘Gift Wrapped with love by AC Garden Centre – Phone Us On…’

The image here with the black and pink theme is titled ‘Midnight in Manhattan’, and was featured at Wyevale Garden Centres across Britain. The stage set shows the consumer what they can achieve in their own home, linking decorations and table settings to provide the complete package.
Point of sale is clean and concise and supports the product which through the way it is merchandised will ultimately sell itself. Display units are non-descript and minimal, allowing again for the product to show itself off.
Another key point to note in this image is the use of down lighting on the walls of the stage set. Lighting is incredibly important in highlighting gift lines, while providing an ambience that makes the consumer feel important, and that the product is important.
The way you merchandise stock should ultimately make the consumer feel that the pink bauble they are reaching for is ‘made of gold and filled with diamonds’ – it must appear to hold an extraordinary value, even if it doesn’t.

Cut Christmas Trees are Opportunity

Cut Christmas trees, albeit a sin amongst the thoughts of many of us, are undoubtedly a source of income during the Christmas period. We see on the roadsides in the lead up to Christmas, the local charities selling the freshly cut pines to the punters. There may be opportunity to align yourself with these charities by offering them ‘space’ in your garden centre with the trade off being that you will market the product and availability for them. This will generate footfall throughout December providing opportunity to capitalise on the new found custom.

Freshly cut trees are a traditional theme of Christmas, and we must curb our negativity as the green industry in providing these to the consumer. Your decision to offer this desirable stock line will be no doubt influenced by whether you fall into the category of a retailing horticulturalist or a horticultural retailer. If you feel that it goes against your principles there are still plenty of options for making the cut Christmas tree market ‘environmentally sustainable’ for you. Have a ‘used on return’ policy whereby old tress post Christmas may be returned to your for chipping – this may then be used on your display beds or donate this to a local school. The provision of cut trees offers a wide variety of opportunity for you to market your nursery in linking in with local communities.
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Customer Service

With the new found custom of another breed of buyers, be aware that their first trip to the garden centre during this time will need to be suitably impressive. Make sure staff are smiling, they are trained in product knowledge (very important) and ensure patience is practiced. Patience truly will be a virtue, and being able to manage indecisive customers and guide buying decisions is important, but these are all customer service 101 skills which you have all heard before.

I remember how exciting Christmas was as a child, the thought of receiving gifts from Santa, decorating the house and bickering (with love) with my siblings. I feel a similar excitement these days in the lead up to Christmas, except now it revolves around the opportunities for retailers during this period. Opportunity for retailers to capitalise on this period is phenomenal, so give it a go and get festively excited!

Pricing Perceptions and Increasing Plant Value

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Pricing Perceptions and Increasing Plant Value

The cost price to the consumer of plants is often unmatched with industry expectations given the cost of production, and most importantly the actual ‘value’ of the plant. Few consumers understand that plants grow at varying speeds and the requirements for cultivation may vary significantly. This lack of understanding, combined with varying retail experiences has the expected and natural effect of consumers buying based upon price alone. This makes for a volatile retail situation.

Back in the 1620/30s, Tulipa bulbs held more monetary value than any other commodity in the world. The record sale was in 1636 for a single bulb of 'Semper Augustus', a striped carmine and white variety, for between 5000 and 6000 florins (depending on the account you read), which equates to between $1.67 and $2 million. The actual price for this small bulb, thought to not even be of flowering size, was 4600 florins plus a coach and 2 dapple-grey horses.

Similarly today, there is a huge element of pride and awe that comes with a British person being able to grow a single lemon per year in their frost proof conservatory – there is significant value placed upon particular groups of plants. These two examples demonstrate that plants in other parts of the world are in fact valued. I can only envisage that it is our lack of history and the loss of information passed between generations, which accounts for the minimal value which we place on green life. This is changing with the ‘grow your own’ revolution, where functional (as opposed to sole ornamental) value is proving to be a driving force for this boom.

Retail Culture

The consumer’s perception of our industry is ultimately founded upon their experiences with all sorts of garden retailers. This might include premium independent garden centres, boutique nurseries, big box chain stores or plant discounters. In each of these groups, the methods of retailing will vary – ‘pile it high and sell it low’ or ‘quality over quantity’. Depending on the methods of retailing, a customer’s price expectation is often skewed by their individual experiences. We (the industry) provide customers with a choice of experiences; but is this to the overall detriment of this industries future? I don’t believe so. The consumer’s perception of price will forever be justified by your ability to market your business. That may mean the professional advice that you offer, the locally grown product, or the ‘environmentally friendly’ attributes to name just a few.

Mr David Daly (Conifer Gardens Nursery) stated to me recently that ‘it’s not the pot the customer is buying – it’s the plant’, and this rings true to my ears, as I am sure it does yours. The issue the industry has here is again with the ability to shift the customer’s paradigm – bringing ‘value’ back to the actual plant in the container being sold. I detailed in last months article the trend in Tasmania’s retail nurseries of containerising bare root stock (specifically roses) – this demonstrates a shift away from the value placed previously on a ‘bare twig’, but the proactive approach to maintain plant value and increase margins through containerisation.

One way to overcome this issue of plant value is by profiling plants and growers. A garden centre I once visited in the UK profiled the producer, placing a ‘locally grown by Mr Griggs’ sign next to stock with a full colour profile (photo included) of Mr Griggs’. This has benefits on multiple levels. It is a means of not only showing the consumer it is locally grown – but its about building positive relationships between you and other members of industry. Another step with this might be to profile the breeder (of a particular cultivar) – By educating the customer we will develop their knowledge, and barriers of price are broken down when the chain of production is understood. With this in mind, I encourage as many retailers to visit production nurseries as well.

Price Points on the Shop Floor

When it comes to the labelling of plants, keep it simple. Having too many price points can be confusing for the consumer, and as such continuity is essential. Without going into price points in too fine a detail, first look at the margins of each of your stock category groups. It is ok to make sacrifices in some category groups, while reaping healthy margins in others. Judgement is important when determining the price of a stock line, and having the right people in the roles is critical. Understanding stock quality by cultivar is also a rare talent. For example, being able to identify the difference between a Dianella tasmanica and other Dianella cultivars (that may or may not hold a PBR) that look the same, and are presented in the same pot size - again, it’s the plant that is being bought not the pot. There are many variables to understand, applying a general mark up does not work in our industry. These issues become even more prevalent when a barcode EPOS system is utilised on site.

When it comes to merchandising the plant, creating a setting which will present the plant at its best is also important in improving perceived value of the product.
You will have heard it before, ‘retail is detail’. It sounds corny, but there is a lot of value in what this statement is suggesting. Presentation and quality standards are everything in retail, from signage through to fixture – the staging of your stock will make a difference in how your plants are sold.

When it comes to signage, the smallest of signs (plant price labels) are just as important as the sign on at the front of the nursery that sells the name of your business. In my travels I see many variations from the poorly displayed price points (hand written on the side of pots with a chalk marker) to the premium (glossy printed labels with your nurseries logo and a clear price point). Hand written labels suggest cheap, while a printed label suggests a premium product. While there may be a cost involved here in improving the perception of value, you must invest in the outcomes you are aiming to achieve – a healthy margin (for the producer and retailer) from a quality plant.

Stock Quality and Accreditation

Maintaining stock quality in the retail setting is crucial. The Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme Australia (NIASA) is the industries Best Management Practice programme, building the professional quality standards of producers. With 57 NIASA businesses across Victoria and growing, you are more than likely buying plants from these nurseries already. As stock quality from these nurseries is expectedly high, there is also an expectation from industry for you to maintain that quality while it sits in your sales area. The easiest way to keep on top of quality is paying close attention to your stock turns and margins.

Many retailers have a holding area for stock past its use by, however the accumulation of stock to the point that you have a ‘nursery’ in a nursery should be avoided. These holding areas are money pits (labour, time, water, fertiliser, space and money) as you are investing further inputs to reclaim that stock. More often than not, making the judgement call, cutting your losses and recording these for the future is a positive step forward.

Addressing and maintaining quality standards within your business will be the biggest step you can take in shifting the customer’s perception of the price which you have placed on the product. The Australian Garden Centre Accreditation Scheme (AGCAS) is an excellent development tool that may be utilised to improve your business operations as a means of improving overall stock quality and customer experience.

A Retirement Village in a National Park - TAS

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‘A retirement village in a national park’
Anthony J Curnow

Mention Tasmania to somebody, and they will likely conjure up thoughts of the unique forests and gastronomic delights (Kind Island Cheese, Leatherwood Honey, Huon Valley Apples) that comprise Tasmania. Few however might recognise Tasmania as a state with significant horticultural wealth. Developing demographics, small markets and communication with communities are all key drivers to the stronghold of retailers in Tasmania’s horticultural retail industry.

The Market

A brief look into Tasmania’s demographics reveals reasons for which might explain the strong nursery industry. Tasmania has roughly 500,000 inhabitants, and is Australia’s ‘oldest state’ by average age. This has come about for a number of reasons. Generally, at interstate level, Tasmania tends to lose younger migrants and gain older ones. If we take for example the 2003/04 period, the greatest net loss on average in migration is in the age brackets of those 20-24 year olds, with the greatest net gain in the 55-59 year old age bracket. This generally typifies the ongoing population interstate migration between Tasmania and the mainland.

Positive Challenges

Tasmania’s retail horticulture industry is exciting. Having visited nearly 15 retailers across the state, generally most are reporting excellent sales in recent months. With the influx of bare rooted stock due to hit the market soon, sales are expected to continue through until a potentially booming spring season.

As you know, the retail horticulture industry is highly seasonal which sets a wide range of challenges from the get go, particularly in Tasmania with its separation from the mainland by Bass Straight.

The majority of trees sold in Tasmania are sourced from producers in Victoria. This makes replenishment of quality stock throughout the year difficult and mostly economically insensible. The years’ supply of stock is bought in one large batch and shipped over at the end of autumn. This is not surprisingly a huge gamble, attempting to predict the potential forthcoming years’ trends in ornamental and fruit trees.
The bare root stock is divided; some being sold off in the traditional bare root form, while increasingly the majority are potted up into grow bags (Garden City Plastics) as freight works out far cheaper on this form of growing container.

In addition to the irregular supply of trees comes an irregular supply of general shrub lines. So, while servicing Tasmania is in many ways no different to that required by regional parts of Victoria, some retailers in Tasmania continue to grow some bread and butter lines. Many Tasmanian retailers believe that by growing lines which require low levels of management, they are able to control and supplement their supply through self reliance while maintaining comparable margins. In contrast to this, is a group of retailers who have stepped back from production. This decision was made with the realisation that predicting markets is difficult enough as a retailer, let alone of production too. As Gregg Chandler pointed out, there is a significant difference in selling the stock you’ve grown over what the customer wants. This rising shift away from production on retail sites I believe will continue to diminish with increasingly efficient supply chains and smarter retailing.

There is a prominent shift in the way in which bare root stock is marketed and sold. In addition to trees, soft fruit (berries, currents and strawberries) is also seeing change to meet consumer expectation. The largest development here is that retailers are increasingly preparing the stock for the consumer by pre-bagging it. This is not only more user friendly for the customer (cleaner to handle) and easier for ongoing stock management, but it saves time at point of sale, is hygienic, and doesn’t require planting immediately – it improves shelf life. For example:
- Cane fruit is root pruned, potted into plastic pots, and backfilled with well composted pine bark, and labelled both on the pot and canes.
- Strawberries are root pruned, wrapped in wet newspaper, placed into a small plastic pocket and labelled.
- Roses too are bagged and increasingly being sold potted up with the customer reportedly happy to pay that little bit extra.
These changes are coming about by a new generation of consumer interested in gardening, but without the cultivation knowledge of plants. We need to provide idiot proof solutions, and these are just a few of them.

Supportive Communities and Opportunities

The garden centre scene at first glance may appear saturated; however all service their own local niche markets. These markets are similar in many ways, and are characterised by the following points.

A number of business owners/managers claimed that there is money to be spent in Tasmania. Given the aged population there is no doubt a lot of truth in this. Money is somewhat expendable and greater value is placed on green life than what I have experienced in many parts of Victoria. With this strong financial position comes the desire for the consumer to want instant gardens, and the majority are very happy to pay the extra for a larger ticket item. A number of garden centres all stock a surprising amount of eight inch (and larger) stock lines, to meet this demand.

Community spirit and support is strong. With smaller population numbers brings strong personal relationships between all sorts of business owners (similar to rural Victoria). It’s a complex hive of businesses all working together for the greater benefit of their surrounding community. Garden centres too, seem to play a key role as the environmental advocates of the community, servicing landscapers, developers, new home owners, renovators, schools, churches and gardeners.

A current promotion throughout Launceston demonstrates this sense of community. There is push for the consumer to ‘buy locally’, which is for the benefit of locally produced and managed businesses. This undoubtedly includes the environmental advocators of the community – the independent garden centres. This is a fantastic opportunity for local business with free promotion (sponsorship by the local newspaper) and a strong positive attitude driving overall community development.

Old Style Marketing

You might be wondering what I mean by old style marketing. The strongest example of this is the availability of bare rooted rose, fruit and ornamental tree lists. These lists are often produced when stock is ordered well in advanced. For consumers who are proactive in their approach to selecting the cultivar of their choice, they are invaluable tools of reference, and an excellent way to generate reservations on stock. They are made available online through the retailer’s website, and also in-store. Expectancy of these lists being available in advance is so high that more often than not, many cultivars sell out well before they are even lifted from the ground at the production nursery.

The Way Forward

The important role of community has been discussed, and as such the result is a group of retailers who all in all will be happy to share information with their competitor (the Plants Plus group is particularly strong here). Most retailers were very open to the suggestion of sharing information, as they are all working for the same purpose – that being the development of the horticulture industry.

The question which is on the tip of everybody’s tongue is whether or not this positive industry is sustainable for the long term. It is something which requires balance. Population growth is predicted to remain steady while migration trends continue. As such the demand will always be there, and the market over time will shift as new retailers open (the next generation), some are businesses are passed on and others close. This is an industry which will continue to develop with respect to improved systems, logistics and business management techniques as they move towards meeting the expectations of the average Tasmanian consumer.

Reference:
http://www.taspop.tasbis.com

New Era in Retailing with The Gardeners Corner Store

The Next Era in Retailing with…
The Gardeners Corner Store

'An investment in Garden Centre Excellence'

Being relatively new to the industry, I am often amazed by the stories and history behind some of the places that I visit. A recent trip to the Gardeners Corner Store was highly insightful, inspiring and incredibly interesting. A story steeped in botanical knowledge, inventive business management, and some sound philosophy has helped David & Helen Grodski and the team at the Gardeners Corner Store get to where they are today.

The Gardeners Corner Store (GCS) had been trading in Brighton for 21 years up until the end of June 2008, when they unknowingly at the time, temporarily ceased trading in their present form. The idea of closure came about some time earlier, and was an accumulation of a number of factors. After winning Best Medium Garden Centre in Victoria for 2004-06 they felt that they were peaking as a business, and the desire to ‘step back’ and enjoy life led to the development of a detailed exit plan. This was also coupled with the realisation that difficult times may have been ahead, with increasing water security pressures (looming Stage 4) and a noticeable decrease in the amount of ‘gardeners’ in the area, as those with gardens were hiring the services of maintenance teams. With the retail sales component in the business’ overall profile shrinking, compared to their landscaping team (with fewer gardeners in the garden centre buying plants), the implementation of the exit plan came to fruition.

Having never held a ‘Sale’ in the 21 years of trading, they were now faced with the closure of the nursery, and the need to sell off stock prevailed. This was tackled in a unique way over a period of four months. Having spent 25 years in the industry, David quite understandably decided it was something to be celebrated, and so large signs plastered across their fences were put up stating “Salebrating 20 years”. This created an unexpected frenzy with the public. This came about not only by the positive message which was sent through the celebration of their garden centre, but also through the supply of good quality stock which customers had come to expect from the garden centre. In doing so, as David points out, this creates a Win:Win situation for everyone, which ultimately has positive effects all around – there would have been no point in selling off poor quality stock as this may lead to a Win(seller):Lose (buyer) situation which wouldn’t have reflected well on the business’ namesake.

The important things David learnt about this closure were the following:
- He would encourage anyone to run ‘events’ as opposed to ‘sales’ – you chose the stock, the time, and control the environment, don’t allow seasons and expectations from the consumer to do so.
- As it is an ‘event’, a positive message must be purveyed.
- Ensure you offer a true bargain for the customer and one of the best shopping experiences of their life - and let them know it. This has a strong focus on staff training and providing high quality customer service. Teaching staff ‘What do I have to do to make that customers life better?’ – How do you train staff to be enthusiastic but not pushy?
- If you are in a positive position to do so, obtaining good quality stock on consignment gives you the stronger selling position to push volume without the initial outlay.

Following the sell off of green life, 250 items consisting of the larger ‘props’ and hard landscape pieces were auctioned off by an auctioneer who came on site for the day. Once these items and the last few plants had been sold, the gates were closed.

In the following few weeks, David was invited in as a consultant to assist in finding a new garden centre tenant for a site previously owned by Gills of Brighton. Following a number of discussions, a proposition was made to David to take the site on himself. After 24 hours of thinking about the opportunity, and some phone calls to his previous employees who are now partners in the business, they signed the lease. The following day David and Helen boarded a plane leaving Australia for six months on an extended holiday. With David and Helen now considering themselves as mentors that work on the business and not in it, Cathryn McEwan and John Parish (Managers and business partners) were left to get the new site up and running.

At the beginning of August 2008, they opened their doors to a new era. With minimal capital at start up, close attention to stock turns has played a key role in their overall current gross profit. Having many years of plant knowledge also was significant in getting started. David noted that knowing what plants to buy based on those that will succeed and those that won’t in that given area was incredibly helpful.

David notably made the point that in a small garden centre, it is difficult to stock everything. This is why the Gardeners Corner Store has the ‘5 F test’. Stock being bought must possess three out of five of the following plant characteristics:
1 – Foliage
2 – Flowers
3 – Fruit
4 – Fragrance
5 – Free from Pest and Disease

Re-opening onto a previous garden centre site had two benefits. Many of their old customers rekindled their relationship with the GCS while they also found an entire new customer base – those being the ‘gardeners,’ plant people whose numbers were diminishing at the old GCS.

With a small but strongly committed team, including David, Helen, Cathryn, John, Alyson, Josh and Tim, they are able to make a large impact in what they do as retailers. The Gardeners Corner Store is committed to continual development onsite and also the industry as a whole. David’s desire to see a set level of expected professionalism and quality assurance from the consumer in the future is something I hope we are all striving for, through the accreditation programmes, and our own desire to take that next step towards the bigger picture in retailing plants.


David Grodski & Lost Languages

Having been a practicing doctor for 20 years, David’s friends thought he was mad when he made the decision to open a Garden Centre. Having a family farm, David acquired many landscaping skills, and these combined with skills learnt as a silent partner in a family nursery inspired him to open his own. With his medical history, a sound understanding of plant names gave him the knowledge about plants which today is almost lost – taxonomy. David understood that you could often determine the many cultivation requirements and characteristics of plants, all by understanding some Latin.

For example:
1 – Habit - elatus (meaning tall), palustris (from swampy regions)
2 – Cultivation Requirements – montanum (from the mountains) or rivularis (prefer moist soils over dry), capensis (from the Cape, so plant in the open)
3 – Origin – japonica (originating in Japan) and chinensis (originating in China) – from this you could also determine whether to plant it south/north, east/west facing
4 – Leaf and Flower – multiflora (floriferous and required sun, not shade), alba (white in colour)
5 – History of Cultivation of the plant – people’s names are often used in honour or memoriam. Such as Fuchsia is a tribute to Leonhart Fuchs, a German physician and herbalist.

As David is now in a position that is best described as a business mentor to the Gardeners Corner Store, there is no doubt that there is a wealth of expertise and knowledge which will be passed onto the next generation, with respect to knowing your plants, and developing good business management skills.

Plant Trends at Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show is the trend setting event of the year here in Australia. The industry is displaying plants of future interest, tempting customers in the hope of spurring sales into the forthcoming season. If there’s a plant on display, people will be coming in and asking for it tomorrow. Three standout exhibits this year were inundated with punters wanting to know what the latest and the greatest in the plant world is. Of these three displays there was no doubt a concentrated focus on natives.

‘Cooling the Planet One Backyard at a Time’ – Tree Shrub Growers of Victoria

Highlighting plants by planting en masse, this display utilised a variety of species selected for their ability to ‘cool the planet’. For example shade trees (Fraxinus excelsior ‘Aurea’) were used to complement the variegated privet which stood over the exhibit and stage. Lawn was included, but so too were small ground covering plants such as the new release Dianella ‘Petite Marie’ and the strong selling and popular Banksia ‘Birthday Candles’. Other tufting beauties such as Libertia ‘Gold Fingers’ and Lomandra ‘Seascape’ (or ‘Silver Grace) add further colour and interest to the design. Structural plants were also significantly featured, and Xanthorrhoeas continue to be used as stand out features in garden designs.

Aloe plicatilus added further interest with their succulent bodies and unique architectural forms. Three other notable plants featured within exhibit included Yucca ‘Silver Sword’ and Acacia ‘Fettucini’. Espaliered citrus and olives from Merrywood Plants also created a bit of a storm with many questions on the stand focused on these trained plants.

‘Imagine’ – A joint garden by Humphris Nursery, Dirtscape Dreaming, Austraflora, Arbor Constructions and Swinburne

I spoke briefly to Barry Humphris of the ‘Imagine’ garden, a joint initiative between Humphris Nurseries and Swinburne University. Barry pointed out that grafted natives were incredibly popular, and that the public who know their natives, generally know their plants. The result of this is that there is a knowing expectation that a ‘grafted plant is a better plant.’ With these plants increasingly being used within designs, they are being engrained in the consumers psyche. With this in mind and demand high at the show, we will no doubt see this trend continue within garden centres post MIFGS – it seems everyone is going to want a grafted Eremophilla or Corymbia cv.

Another plant featured in the garden includes the newly released Eucalyptus cladocalyx ‘Vintage Red’ which has deep red juvenile foliage, potentially an ideal plant for coppicing – an increasingly popular horticultural practice here in Australia.

A wide range of other plants were featured including the ‘King in the Garden’ Range such as Acmena ‘Moonlight Flame’ and the increasingly popular fluffy pink heads of Ptilotis exaltatus ‘Phoenix’. Some other more unusual plants included in the large planting scheme were Pimelea physodes ‘Qualup Bells’ and the silver foliage of Marieana oppositifolia ‘Dwarf Silver Shadow’ and the Acacia cognata cultivars with their graceful weeping lime green foliage are proven winners.

Habitat – ‘Phillip Johnston’

This garden won not only Best in Show, but a Gold award for Best Show Garden. It was an incredibly impressive piece, and certainly stopped people in their tracks with their interesting selection of plants and massive feature boulders, intermingled with the key environmental messages about living a sustainable life. The garden itself comprised of a diverse plant selection, incorporating not only edible gardens (vegetables, fruit and citrus) but riparian vegetation including sedges and ferns and xeriscape plantings – the entire design wassegregated by ecological zones, with the water as the fluid entity and life
blood of making the site work. This is something which Phillip Johnston Landscape Systems designs around – building a sustainable habitat to be enjoyed.

To mention just a few of the stand out plants that stood out in the landscape – Bachychiton specimens, no doubt chosen for their spectacular structure, their ability to conserve moisture is also a drawcard. Doryanthes excelsa, the spectacularly large flowering Gymea Lily was also utilised in abundance, their phenomenal size and impact within the landscape added scale and stirred interest amongst the visitors. Other plants such as a number of cultivars of Anigozanthos, Dampiera, Eremophilla and a wide variety of fern species were utilised to create this impressive display of Australian flora.