State of the Industry: Get ahead of spring

Have things improved or worsened in 2014 for Independent Garden Centers? The focus of this issue is The State of the Industry Report, which will hopefully shed some light on these questions. More importantly, the report findings may help lay out a general roadmap for those whose stores are not performing as anticipated and confirm for others that they are headed in the right direction.

Even though I haven’t seen the report yet, I’d bet $10 to the donut that some of the major reasons (again) that many garden center owners say their sales are flat or are down are due to the weather and the economy, both factors that are generally out of our control. Since we can’t really change either the weather or the health (or lack thereof) of the economy, why not focus our energies on what we can change?

First off, 2014 isn’t over! There are still great sales opportunities left this year. Halloween is second in seasonal holiday sales behind Christmas. Excelling outside of spring takes a positive attitude. If you are of the mindset that spring is done and so are your sales, then be assured they will be.

What image does your store portray right now? Are you getting in fresh product to give customers a reason to keep coming back? As the days get shorter, pull out the white twinkle lights to brighten things up and highlight targeted seasonal items like espaliered apple trees.

Are you hosting special events to generate traffic? What about a Ladies Night for football “widows”? Partner with a local winery for a wine tasting and session about growing your own grapes. Talk about harvesting, storing and preserving your late season veggies so customers can enjoy fresh produce year-round (and how it can help save dollars on their weekly grocery bill). Focus on how customers can prep their gardens now to be ahead of the game for next year.

Since spring is when the vast percentage of retail sales take place, the State of the Industry Report should be stimulating thoughts of what we could do better or differently for increased sales in 2015. But why not get feedback straight from the horse’s mouth? Gather up a small group of customers, give them a $20 gift certificate along with some tea and cookies, and ask them what they think. Do you have a suggestion box where customers can provide feedback? As you implement changes, you can utilize that as a social media blitz; “you spoke/we listened and now we’ve done x, y or z.”

I’m curious as to what would happen if we also did some planning to combat the intangibles. Can we at least plan to minimize the effect they have on our spring business by putting a positive spin on things?

For instance, Mother Nature is going to mess with us; it is a given. Why not think ahead and come up with ad slogans for different/bad weather scenarios? You may never use them, but they will allow you to react more quickly. For instance, if the weather skips spring and goes to summer, push drought-tolerant plants. If it is extra wet then promote plants that survive with wet feet. Push extra hardy varieties that survived the frigid 2013 winter. “Buy your plants in the rain so when it’s sunny, you’re ready to plant or can enjoy the day,” etc.

These are only idea starters and certainly not the be-all, end-all solutions, but the best defense is a good, well-thought-out offense. If advanced creative thinking helps your sales move from being down 30 percent to 20 percent, that’s 10 percent you don’t have to make up once the water is over the dam because as we all know, it’s pretty hard to push it back over.

Maria is president of Upshoot LLC and Director of Plant Development and Ornamental Program Manager for the HGTV HOME Plant Collection.