Keep customers hungry for more

When the planting is done and the harvesting begins, garden centers start to wind down from the busiest time of the year. For many, it’s a time to relax and regroup, but for others, it’s a great chance to try something new, get to know the customers and maximize opportunities. From classes to markets to events, there are many creative ways to keep the store full. Sickles Market in New Jersey is doing just that by taking advantage of their customers’ desire to know more about what they’re eating and where it’s coming from.

Highlighting what you have
Sickles’s Cooking through the Seasons program, hosted by in-house chef Carol Maxwell, not only teaches customers how to make delicious dishes from their fresh produce, but also reminds them that the garden center stocks many, many kinds of edibles.

“One of the classes I had done before was a farm to table with Sickles,” Maxwell said. “I was inspired to try to help the customers as being a resource and came up with the idea of featuring one vegetable or one fruit when it’s at the height of its season.”

Maxwell teaches four recipes over the two-hour classes, giving different ideas for the garden standards like asparagus, corn, strawberries and tomatoes. Plus, the classes cover how to choose the best produce, so customers know what to look for in the garden or at the store. At a recent class on strawberries, Garden Center Manager Natale Siclair even created a strawberry jar to display, along with a note letting attendees know they can find strawberry plants at Sickles. Everyone goes home with a goodie bag full of the Sickles products and a coupon good for the produce students worked with at their class.

“At the first class, we used asparagus, so we gave out coupons to come back that are only good from Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday, so that gets them back into the store as well,” Maxwell said.

The classes are also a great way to market some of the garden center’s other offerings. Maxwell’s Lunchtime Express class on tomatoes will include a tomato tart, a quick summer pasta and bruschetta with fresh mozzarella fresh basil from the Sickles nursery. “It’s a good opportunity to cross-market,” Maxwell said.

Stocking seasonally
Sickles is stocked with edibles, which Garden Center Manager Natale Siclair said is the number one category for the market in terms of sales, profit and quantity. Strawberries have been extremely popular this year, and Siclair said container gardens are big with customers living in nearby Manhattan.

Fresh and local food has always been a big part of Sickles Market, which started off as a family farm in 1908. The Sickles started a market stand that grew into a market. The Sickles family tomatoes are famous and the market sells more than $1 million worth every year.

“We specialize in seasonal products,” Siclair said. “You can come here and buy local produce that’s grown in New Jersey, and you can buy imported cheese and bread imported every Thursday from Paris.”

Connecting with customers
Maxwell tries to make the classes easy for her students. By using simple professional techniques, she teaches them how to cook and enjoy the fresh produce they can find at Sickles, or in their own backyards. Customers know that they can return to the store for more advice, cooking tips, growing tips and the supplies they need when they’re ready to plant again.

“A nice thing is that because I work here, I can be a guide and resource,” she said. “They know me better and when they have a question, they can come here and just ask it. We have a great relationship with our customers.”

Maxwell even offers a special bonus recipe on her blog, along with photos, tips and fun facts about the products at Sickles. “That makes it more personal,” she said “I’ll share a touchstone food memory the class gave me and talk about the next class coming up.”

Taking advantage of the local and fresh food movements, Sickles classes, held at a nearby cooking studio, are drawing great attendance. The last two classes were nearly full, and the upcoming sessions are getting a lot of interest. To build excitement, Sickles raffles off a spot in each class and advertises heavily on their website, e-newsletter and social media outlets. The garden center plans to take out newspaper advertisements in the future, Maxwell said, and there has been a lot of word of mouth.

That sort of attention to their customers’ interests has even sparked trips and tours, starting with local garden visits and growing from there. In August of last year, Sickles started a tour division. Now, they’re taking customers to faraway destinations like Sicily, France and Spain so that travelers can see where their favorite Sickles foods come from.

“They’re such an interest in food and gardening and plants, and the whole Sickles experience,” Siclair said. “They sell out.”

By offering a variety of events, products and plants, Sickles doesn’t know the meaning of the term slow season. Whether the activity is taking place at the garden center, at a nearby studio or across the Atlantic Ocean, customers are involved with the brand year-round.