The power of stories

During his keynote address at the 2015 IGC Show in Chicago, Ill., Garden Center Group Founder Robert Hendrickson spoke about the importance of storytelling.

“Our future is in the stories we tell,” he said to the crowd of garden center representatives. “Marketing is about storytelling … This is not a generational issue. This is a message issue.”

It’s easier for people to remember tales rather than facts, he said, because “our DNA is wired for stories.”

Each month, that’s exactly what we strive to do at Garden Center magazine. We tell you stories about other independent retailers that have had success with strategies they’ve implemented at their businesses. Sometimes we tell you about completely innovative ideas. Other times, we share new approaches to tried-and-true practices. Our goal is always to educate, entertain and enlighten — one of the three purposes that are usually present in good stories, according to Hendrickson.

For this year’s Top 100 Independent Garden Centers issue, we’ve dedicated the entire magazine to telling the stories of 20 businesses on our Top 100 list. We selected 20 because we happen to be celebrating two decades of Garden Center magazine this year. We chose businesses from across the country and across our list.

What’s so powerful about stories is how they resonate with us, and how they help us better understand ourselves, our businesses and this industry. It’s easier to see what we share. For example, many of the garden centers we profiled are family-owned. Many started out in a garage, on the side of the road, or initially offered different products like produce and hardware supplies. Garden center owners, managers and staff are noticing that the new generation of gardeners does not know as much about plants and needs more guidance. Wherever the IGCs are based — California, Canada or Connecticut — these commonalities are seen throughout the issue.

Stories also reveal what makes us different from each other and offer us ideas for innovation. On page 40, you’ll read about the owners of Rick’s Garden Center, who decided to install a mural on their building to say, “We’re still here,” when rumors spread that they were closing. Petitti Garden Centers has been “flower bombing” yards across Northeast Ohio as a way to give back to the community. You can read what else they are up to on page 22. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, profiled on page 84, has picked up new categories, like beer and winemaking, revealing that sometimes change is necessary to bring in new customers.

We hope that these stories entertain you, but more importantly, we hope these ideas shared by fellow independent garden center retailers enlighten, educate and inspire you.

Michelle Simakis  msimakis@gie.net