Garden Center web news and social media highlights from November 2017

Multimedia | video

Celebrating Ernest

Nearly anyone with experience in the horticulture industry knows the name “Ernest Wertheim.” It’s a name synonymous with intimate knowledge of the business of selling plants. For more than 75 years, Ernest has been a tireless advocate for and pioneer in garden center retailing. During the Cultivate’17 trade show in Columbus, Ohio, Ernest, who had traveled from California to be a part of the annual industry event, sat down with AmericanHort to discuss his many years in horticulture. Ernest shared his experience and his thoughts on the past and potential future of the horticulture industry in a video interview.

Watch here: bit.ly/2yUYeJP

What’s trending on Instagram

Just as so many retailers do what they can to create captivating and engaging experiences in their stores, some suppliers are taking note of this trend and following suit with their trade show booths. During the 2017 spoga+gafa trade show in Cologne, Germany, elho, primarily a plastic container supplier, built an elaborate garden setting for show attendees to explore, complete with seating, food, beverages and even a D.J. Garden Center editor Michelle Simakis posted a brief video of the elho booth to the Garden Center Instagram account, where followers expressed their interest in the welcoming trade show space.

Your turn

Each month, we ask readers a different question about their retail operations, inviting them to answer via email or social media. You can send your answers to associate editor Conner Howard at choward@gie.net.

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION: “Does your garden center host any special Christmas events? If so, how well-attended are they?”

Answers to this question will be published in a future issue of Garden Center.

5 stories in brief

Top industry news from our website

Vermont IGCs tour

Impressions and takeaways from the retailers featured on the 2017 Garden Center Group Fall Event tour.
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Honoring Ernest

AmericanHort recently recognized horticulture icon Ernest Wertheim in an interview regarding his thoughts on the industry.
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Stories of perseverance

In the cover story for Garden Center’s October 2017 issue, retailers in Houston and Florida discussed their preparation and recovery efforts in the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
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Target customers

A report by The Wall Street Journal suggests that Millennials around 26 years old are the highest priority consumer for major retailers.
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Top news of September

Content from Garden Center magazine’s 2017 Top 100 issue was popular among readers throughout September.
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