How to cultivate connections with vendors

Photo © Cosmic Capture, Stephanie Spoly

The very nature of most independent garden centers — managing tight budgets, seasonal uncertainty and a mercurial customer base — makes strong vendor relationships a vital lifeline. 

Developing deep connections with suppliers and distributors isn’t just critical but absolutely indispensable for garden centers like the family-owned Fort Collins, Colorado-based Bath Garden Center & Nursery.

Strong vendor relationships are a defining competitive advantage against the big-box retailers and online merchants it goes head-to-head with, says Kassi Kuppinger, the garden center’s marketing manager. 

Photo courtesy of Bath
Garden Center & Nursery

“From reliable supply to consistent quality, solid vendor relationships help us with our plant and hard goods,” Kuppinger explains. “Our green vendors consistently deliver healthy plants and give us a wide selection (for customers), while having good relationships with our hard goods vendors allow us to be more flexible with our ordering, which helps us maintain inventory.”

As a result, cultivating deeper partnerships with suppliers and distributors has the potential to translate into a decisive financial edge in an industry where margins are often razor-thin.

One common misconception is that successful garden center-vendor relationships are purely transactional and financial. Instead, success stems from genuine partnerships built on interpersonal bonds, says Danny Summers, a partner in the business coaching firm Garden Center Consultants.

Photo courtesy of
Danny Summers

“Both sides must be invested in each other's success,” Summers says of this unique dynamic.

Garden centers need dependable suppliers who consistently deliver quality and support by understanding their needs, helping to move products and becoming integral participants in their business cycle. 

“This goes beyond simply providing goods and promotional materials,” Summers adds. “It involves collaborative efforts like pre-pricing, consistent delivery schedules and a shared focus on maximizing sales through transaction count and average sale analysis. Ultimately, a true partnership fosters mutual growth and long-term sustainability.”

Know thy self

A garden center's inability to understand and clearly articulate its unique brand identity, product strategy and target audience leaves it vulnerable to vendor misdirection. This lack of understanding leads to frustrating, time-wasting interactions between buyers and sellers. It ultimately erodes trust, transforming the relationship from a promising partnership into a mere quota-driven transaction.

Photo courtesy of
Erik Dietl-Friedli

“If you don’t know who you are, then how are (your vendors) going to know?” says Erik Dietl-Friedli, a partner with Garden Center Consultants, which provides garden centers with coaching on strategic planning, trend forecasting and operational efficiency. “If you don’t know who you are and what your product mix is, then a vendor could steer you toward something that doesn’t fit your look or brand. If you get to that point, you need to step back. They’re not getting who you are because you don’t know who you are.”

Deeper understanding

Without a doubt, technology and the popularity of web-based ordering have made conducting business more convenient for garden centers. However, Sean Corenki, general manager at Darien, Connecticut-based The Gardener’s Center, argues these high-tech conveniences have inadvertently become an obstacle in fostering garden center-vendor relationships.

Instead, Corenki emphasizes the importance of building personal, face-to-face relationships with vendors and growers, regardless of either’s size or scope of operations. 

Photo courtesy of
The Gardener's Center

“You may have talked with people on the phone for years but never actually met them in person and got to know them,” says Corenki, a 30-year veteran of the garden center industry. “I remember when we used to get weekly visits from our plant and hard-goods vendors to check in, take orders and talk business. But a lot of that has changed over the last decade. So, it’s really important to know who you’re talking to on the other end of the phone and get to know the people you’re working with all of the time.”

Many smaller independent garden centers may believe they’re not purchasing on a scale that warrants deep relationships with their vendors. However, this notion couldn’t be further from the truth.

Often, it’s more about the quality of these relationships and not the overall quantity that produces the most benefits for garden centers, says Dietl-Friedli, a 35-year veteran of the garden center industry who works part-time as a buyer for Flamingo Road Nursery in Davie, Florida. 

“The belief is that an order may just be too small for the vendor to really care about (the smaller) garden center,” he adds. “But if you’re developing a relationship with (vendors), then they’ll want (that relationship) to grow because they want to work with you again and again and again.”

Deep personal ties between garden centers and vendors are built on familiarity and trust, which goes both ways.

“(Garden center) owners and managers really must open up a bit about themselves, their businesses and who their customers are, especially when it comes to their particular business model,” says Dietl-Friedli. “If you’re able to develop personal relationships with your suppliers and distributors, then they’re more apt to be looking out for your best interests and what will be the best fit for your garden center.

“(Vendors) learn more about your buying habits when you do your buying and how much buying is normal for you,” he adds. “They’re not just acting as an order taker. But as they get deeper into what your store is and who you are, then those relationships become mutually beneficial. (Vendors) want you to be successful.”

And when ordering discrepancies arise, as they invariably do, robust vendor relationships transform potential crises into collaborative problem-solving opportunities. Instead of assigning blame, Bath Garden Center’s Kuppinger says strong garden center-vendor partnerships take a proactive approach to troubleshooting, ensuring minimal disruption and preserving the integrity of the business relationship.

Photo courtesy of Bath Garden Center & Nursery

“We aim to be transparent and honest,” she says. “Mistakes happen, but our policy is to be upfront and take responsibility for anything on our end. There’s typically room for human error in a solid vendor relationship, but if issues continue and can’t be resolved with civil communications, then it’s time to move on.”

Communication is key

Transparent and timely communication between garden centers and their vendors, particularly growers, is a critical component in building healthy, mutually beneficial relationships, Summers says. As a result, vendors can provide their garden center clients with regular updates on product availability, including new introductions, which are essential to cultivating and maintaining the interests of garden center customers. 

Likewise, frequent communication provides a more accurate snapshot of the current business condition and availability of plant materials, especially in planning for the peak spring season, when garden centers generate the majority — upward of 70% — of their annual income, Summers says. Therefore, precise, real-time communication regarding product availability, condition and delivery schedules is non-negotiable for garden centers, particularly during this crucial period.

“Garden centers must prioritize this transparency,” Summers says. “Furthermore, the industry's shared experience of recent, substantial cost increases, particularly in labor, has fostered a unique understanding between growers and retailers. Both parties have navigated these challenges, demonstrating a collective resilience as these costs ultimately trickle down to the consumer. This shared burden is especially felt by the 40% of garden centers that are also retail-growers, who intimately understand the impact of rising production expenses."

While transparent communication about plant stages — budding, blooming, color — is essential, independent garden centers also place a premium on new, limited-availability plants and hard goods, allowing them to showcase innovations and build early traction with clients who prefer to do business with local businesses and not big-box retailers. 

“Beyond mere availability, garden centers rely on consistent updates (from their plant suppliers) on upcoming products, new and exciting introductions, and, crucially, the evolving condition of their stock,” Summers says. “Unlike static hard goods, living plants change daily, demanding clear visual representations and accurate descriptions of their current state, especially during critical growth stages. This level of transparency with (growers) ensures garden centers can make informed purchasing decisions and optimize their inventory.”

Open and transparent communication benefits the garden center-vendor dynamic, The Gardener’s Center’s Corenki says. For example, confronted with the notorious I-95 congestion plaguing southwestern Connecticut, the garden center implemented a proactive and highly efficient solution.

Photo courtesy of The Gardener's Center

Recognizing the crippling delays faced by its Long Island growers, Corenki says they began receiving deliveries at 6 a.m., before the hectic traffic rush. This strategic shift eliminated hours of wasted time for drivers and allowed the garden center to unload fresh plant material before opening, ensuring a better customer experience from the moment they opened their doors for business. 

This mutually beneficial arrangement, learned through open communication, exemplifies the value from strong garden center-vendor partnerships.

“It’s a win-win for everyone,” Corenki adds, “(Growers) aren’t wasting time sitting in traffic, and we're not trying to unload trucks while we’re full of customers. Instead, we have product out and ready for sale before we’re even open. And we wouldn’t have achieved that without that open communication.”

Mike Zawacki is a Cleveland-based journalist and frequent contributor to GIE Media's horticulture publications who has covered various aspects of the green, horticultural, sports turf and irrigation industries for the last 20 years.