The latest from our website and social media pages

Your turn

We’d like to introduce “Your Turn” — a new section of Garden Center magazine. Each month, we’ll be asking our readers a different question about their retail operations, inviting them to answer via email or social media. You can send your answers to assistant editor Conner Howard at choward@gie.net. Questions will be published here and answers will be shared on another page.

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION:

Q. “What methods do you use to pre-sell your season?”
Answers to this question will be published in the February 2017 issue of Garden Center.

Multimedia | video

Happy Holidays from GIE Media, Inc.

This holiday season, the GIE Media Horticulture Group took part in the “mannequin challenge” craze to wish all our readers a safe, restful and enjoyable holiday!
Watch here: bit.ly/2iQ63ZE

What’s trending on Facebook

When our December 2016 issue was published online, we shared the cover story with our followers on Facebook. The article tells the story of Naylor’s Hardware and Garden Center and Clegg’s Nursery, two independent garden center retailers that were damaged in a historic flood in Baton Rouge. In the wake of the disaster, the two businesses pooled resources and created a thriving partnership. Garden Center Facebook followers showed an incredible response to the story, which had 73 “likes” (and other reactions) and 86 shares as of press.
Find it here: bit.ly/2hY2hxw

5 stories in brief

Top industry news from our website

2017 in color

The Pantone Color Institute announced “Greenery” as the 2017 color of the year, citing the theme’s connection to the natural world.
bit.ly/2hYFlt5

Yuletide trivia

The National Christmas Tree Association shared a series of interesting fast facts about the $1.3 billion live Christmas tree industry.
bit.ly/2hqcbpZ

Xmas Eve fire

Mulhall’s garden center in Omaha, Neb., was fortunately able to reopen two days after the store caught fire Christmas Eve morning.
bit.ly/2iQlXmF

Engagement tips

IGCs could learn from these ideas from Retail Customer Experience on how to hold customers’ interest while they wait in line.
bit.ly/2hmgIHD

IGC gathering

Retail consultant John Stanley has organized an international meeting of 13 businesses from 12 countries in Paris to share strategic plans and marketing ideas.
bit.ly/2h6H2V9