The survey says...

Despite facing less-than-stellar "weathernomics" over the past three years, most of the brethren/sistren in our great industry still have much for which to be grateful.

Frinstance: If you're reading this, the odds are good that you still have gainful employment. That's definitely a "good." Ditto, the notion that, because of all you've been through lately, whatever road you take next will be paved with valuable lessons that will alternately (A) smooth the path and (B) keep you headed in the proper direction. Or, at least, a better direction.

To that end, this month's issue features our annual State-of-the-Industry report. We have quizzed hundreds of garden center operators around the country on all manner of factors that have shaped – and will shape – the market and have packaged the findings in the hope that you can better stay the aforementioned course.
 

It's in there. For the record, this is the most comprehensive study this magazine has ever done. I dare say it is the most comprehensive study any garden market magazine has ever done. That said, I doubt some of the results will surprise you. Example: Most of you didn't write home about your 2011. Example: Edibles are still popular if not profoundly profitable.

Example: You sure could use some nice weather, at least on weekends, next spring.

Example: You face a significant challenge plotting your future.

I gave that last one its own paragraph, and you probably don't have to be told why. The garden market circa 2012 might be at its most important crossroad in recent memory.

You now serve a new breed of customer – in fewer numbers, no less. And those folks barely speak the same language as their predecessors. You've seen "the journey" replaced by "the destination," and you know too well that the former is a much more steady and frequent sell. You've been knee-deep in rainwater ... or been bent 45 degrees by the wind ... or been darned-near able to see China through those cracks the drought wrought in the plant yard.
 

And now ... You'll pull the staff together to prepare for a new year, hopeful as always, because ... well, because you still offer something few other professions do, the most hopeful of resources: natural beauty that lasts and lasts.

I hope the report that begins after page 18 serves you well. In fact, I hope that the collection of answers will help you find THE answer to the most important question facing our industry: How can we win in 2012?
 

yyoungblood@gie.net