Marketplace News

Monrovia launches mobile website
Good news for the techno savvy: Monrovia (www.monrovia.com) is the first major grower to launch a website that is compatible with iPhones, BlackBerry and Android technology. The mobile site has a similar look and feel to Monrovia's full site, but is designed for easy navigation with a hand-held device. Users can look up plants in the 2,500+ database, narrowing their search by numerous fields. Phase II will follow with additional features, such as the ability to log in and access individual plant Wish Lists and subscribe to the company's e-newsletter, Plant Savvy.

Scotts Miracle-Gro and Marrone Bio Innovations to jointly develop products
Scotts Miracle-Gro will expand its "natural" offerings by partnering with Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI). MBI is a provider of natural products for pest management in the agricultural and water treatment markets. "We are excited about this new partnership with MBI because we believe it will lead to improved products that enable gardeners who choose natural options to get great results," said Bruce Caldwell, SMG's global R&D leader.
 

Consumers in a frugal mood this holiday season
Bah humbug. U.S. households are expected to spend an average of $497 on gifts this holiday season, The Conference Board reported. Only 7 percent of consumers said they plan to spend more on holiday gifts this year, while approximately 40 percent plan on spending less than last year. Consumers will be heading to the malls and online searching for bargains. Four out of 10 holiday shoppers say they expect more than half of their purchases to be on sale or discounted. An additional three out of 10 expect a quarter to half of their purchases to be discounted.
 

Four Star Greenhouse receives prestigious landscape award
Four Star Greenhouse, Carleton, Mich., received the President's Plaque — the highest award from the Keep Michigan Beautiful (KMB) organization, for its public display gardens at the company's headquarters in Carleton. The award, which represented an 'exceptional program' for the business and industry category, was presented this fall. Four Star's extensive display gardens include more than 20 landscape beds, a large variety of containers and baskets hanging from an extended pergola, a covered bridge, water features and stone walkways.

$22 billion lawn & garden market must get 'greener,' study says
The lawn and garden market is expected to post $21.5 billion at retail sales in 2011, down slightly from $22.7 billion in 2007, according to Packaged Facts' just-released report on "Lawn and Garden Products and Services in the U.S."

The power and manual equipment category accounts for 51 percent of the overall market, with garden supplies edging out lawn care and landscaping services for the remainder. Packaged Facts survey data also show that home center chains (including Lowe's and Home Depot) account for a 55-perecent share of sales for lawn and garden equipment and supplies.

Closely linked to housing and employment trends, the lawn and garden market has been constrained by the Great Recession and its lingering drag on the economy, as well as other dampening factors including high energy prices and climate concerns.

Some of those challenges also represent opportunities, however, according to Packaged Facts publisher David Sprinkle. For example, while "green" gardeners may dial down on conventional lawn and garden product purchases ranging from gas-powered machinery to synthetic fertilizers and insecticides, they also are creating demand for a new generation of sustainable products and services to support organic gardening and home food gardening. The ever-important aging Boomer segment also holds promise, including in professional lawn care services.

"Lawn and Garden Products and Services in the U.S." argues that if the market is to resume healthy growth it must develop new and sustainability-oriented selling propositions independent of housing expansion. Otherwise, market players are relegated to catering to a diminished pool of homeowners facing difficult times and increasingly unpredictable weather and seasonal patterns. "Green" lawns and gardens, culminating in the "edible yard," thus represent both the greatest challenge to the status quo in the industry and its most compelling opportunity.