The Blogging Nurseryman - “The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery” by Trey Pitsenberger

According to it’s website GIE Media, Inc. has “announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Ft. Worth based Branch-Smith Publishing. This development adds four titles to GIE: Greenhouse Management & Production, Nursery Management & Production, Garden Center and Garden Center Product Source. In making the acquisition GIE significantly extends its position serving the commercial horticultural and specialty markets.”

Interesting news. Other than that I don’t know how this will shake out. The Branch-Smith story is quite interesting. Founded in 1900 by Aaron Smith, who was born without arms. He learned to type using his toes. The company is now in it’s fourth generation. They plan to, “focus on its award-winning Branch-Smith Printing company, which specializes in books, catalogs, directories and other print solutions for publishers.”

I felt Branch-Smith was smart in taking a proactive approach to new media by starting their “Open Register” blog. Perhaps it’s that proactive approach that made the acquisition by GIE possible. I am sure we will hear more about this as the nursery industry continues to change before our eye’s.

Take a look at this article on “(Almost)Endless Summer , How seasonal businesses get noticed during slow periods” at Inc.com, “The Daily Resource for Entrepreneurs” There are some tips from others in seasonal businesses on how to keep customers interested during slow periods. The first one is from Adams Fairacre Farms, a Poughkeepsie, New York, company that operates three garden and grocery stores. They discusses the success of their seminar program. Here at our nursery it has been one of the best investments of time we have made. The seminar, or as we call them “workshops” brings people in, and the sales follow. If your garden center has someone who likes to speak don’t delay, start a seminar program today!

Number 6 is from a florists perspective. See how they used little known holidays and celebrations to boost business. This is a great idea and could be extended to the garden center. Who get’s a Arbor Day Card sent to them?

Number 4 is why I found this article. I had forgotten about being interviewed so it was fun seeing, “Blog, especially about the big names in your industry.” Yea, it’s The Blogging Nurseryman and his, “something of a must read in the industry” blog.  It’s really a kick to see The Golden Gecko Garden Center mentioned. We are a small, three (sometimes 4) person operation in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of northern California. Yet, because of new media and my belief that any company no matter how small can make a difference, here we are.

The article makes it seem somewhat like I write about “The Big Boys” in our industry to get the blog attention. I have never written about Home Depot, Hines Nursery, Scotts, etc., to gain attention. Sure those posts bring a lot of viewers, but I write about these companies, and others because they matter to my business. I am not out to “get” anyone. We are just a small business with big competition, and that’s some of what we write about. It’s interesting, but by just being ourselves we have gotten more attention than we ever thought possible.

What other industries are being changed right now because the “small” players now have a voice?

My last post on Sunset Magazines “Crib Sheet” on box stores vs. independents got me to thinking. Maybe what they are saying is true! I received a comment from Fern in which she said, “Quite frankly, they’re right. I would never buy a plain vanilla basil plant from the local independent nursery. They charge twice as much for the same quality plant. Likewise, I wouldn’t be able to afford to buy 20 boxwoods from them, if I needed that sort of thing. But if I needed something really spectacular, or unusual, an heirloom, something that was certified organic, or I needed to buy a plant that came with some advice, I would never in a million years think to head down to the big box place. Did you read the article and want to be annoyed?”

Maybe I did! I grew up in the era of the one stop garden center. Back when I got started in the late 70’s the only chain store competition we had was K-Mart, and they did a lousy job. People use to get ALL their gardening needs at a garden center. Now things have changed. Fern doesn’t realize my herbs are the same price as the boxes.  It doesn’t matter! The impression is independents are more expensive.

So that’s my question for you. Was the Sunset Crib Sheet article the way we are viewed by the public? Are garden centers good for specialty items  and not much else? Don’t get me wrong, it would make ordering and running the business easier if we focused on being great at a few things and ignored the others. Should we not even bother with herbs? Landscape shrubs and trees are the box stores realm?

I posted this question at our group over at Linkedin.  The question revolved around whether wholesale nurseries, like Hines should focus exclusively on boxes or independents. Just before filing bankruptcy Hines decided they would focus exclusively on the box stores. The differing needs of independents and boxes almost demand it. So that’s my question for you. Should garden centers leave the landscaping shrubs and trees for the box stores? Should we be even be carrying gallon sized boxwood’s? Herbs? Annuals? My annuals are way better than The Depot’s, but does it matter? Perceptions.

This is one of the questions all of us in the garden center business want the answer to. What direction are we to go?

Sunset Magazine, “The Magazine of Western Living” has a small article they run regularly called, “The Crib Sheet”. This months crib sheet was, “Big-box stores vs. indie nurseries-what to buy where.” They list the box stores on the left and indies on the right. The first thing we learn is box stores are best for, “great deals in mass quantities”. Indies are best for, “unparalleled selection and advice”.  Then the list goes on to say that box stores are best for,

1.”Annuals”

2. “Cactus and succulents”

3. “Herbs (the basics, rosemary, sage and thyme)”

4. “Houseplants”

5. “Shrubs in bulk (any landscape plants you need in quantity such as manzanitas for groundcovers, or hedges.)”

Indies are best for,

1. “California Friendly Plants” and then lists  Rogers Gardens in Del Mar.

2. “Specialty Desert Plants” and lists Berridge Nursery in Phoenix.

3. “Specialty Palms” and lists Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco.

So according to Sunset you can go to independents and buy California friendly plants, desert plants, and specialty palms. Go to the box stores for everything else! Why do they come up with this? While these nurseries listed are fine nurseries why are they even listed? I like Flora Grubb Gardens in S.F. but it seems like when ever Bay Area magazines want to talk about independents they always pick Flora Grubb? Most of the plants they sell wouldn’t grow outside the Bay Area, which is mostly frost free.

So if your just a regular gardener with regular needs go to the box stores. If your into California friendly plants, desert plants, or specialty palms, go to an independent.  Do people really need a “crib sheet” to help decide where to shop for gardening supplies? Why not offer a crib sheet comparing returant chains like Mc Donalds to independent restaurants? After reading this who wouldn’t head straight for the box store?  And why do these nurseries get mentioned? I have to go to Rogers Gardens in Del Mar, which is one of the most expensive nurseries on the west coast, to get “California friendly plants?”

Is this how the main stream media sees independent nurseries? Especially Sunset which has been friendly to independents before. Maybe this was just a poor thought out article and will be the exception rather than the rule. Or maybe we in the independent garden center business have our work cut out for us.

I posted about our new Linkedin Group, “Garden Center’s, Nurseries, and New Media” yesterday. Here is the link to the group. We now have 33 members and growing. What’s really cool is the caliber of people joining. Not just another trade organization, this is an attempt to gather all the people who care about garden centers and the horticultural businesses. Garden Bloggers, trade publications, nursery owners, nursery employees, and consultants are involved. Using new media like Linkedin, blogs, web poages, e-news, twitter, etc., we are building a new world interconnected by our common interests. The people in this group will be leading the way! Won’t you join us?

Update:

While most everyone is approved I am concerned with spam, etc. If you want to join, at least have a link to your blog or web page. I do check these out to make sure your a real person. I had a request from a investment banker, but no web page or company name. Without some indication that your are here to contribute not spam, we can’t approve you. Just give me link, address, e-mail, or something. Thanks.

Recently at Linkdin I started a group called, “Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media” We have members from new media, trade publications, garden centers, and nurseries. If your a garden blogger who has written on garden centers we want you. This is not a trade group. We have plenty of those around. This is something new. People who care about nurseries and garden centers and believe in the power of new media.

Just today Linkdin downloaded a new function for the groups, discussions. I have started a discussion titled, ” Will Hines Nursery survive its recent bankruptcy? Should wholesale nurseries sell to just boxes or indiependets or can the sell to both?”Got something to say? Why not check out our group and see if it’s for you? I believe you don’t even have to be a member of Linkdin to join. Here is the link.

The Hines Nursery Bankruptcy story is responsible for the largest amount of traffic to this site since we started in July of 2005. I realize that it is a huge story. A lot of independent garden centers and nurseries depend on Hines for much of their stock. They may not have the access to regional growers like we do here in California. They are concerned and worried about who, if anybody is next. We all know that the nursery business is in a rapid state of change. All we can do sometimes is just hold on for the ride.

Here is a link to more post we have done on Hines.

I was checking out some information on hydroponics on the web. We had talked about the hydroponic business earlier . The author, I don’t remember his name, was recommending that hydroponic shops think about changing their names to “garden centers”. It would convey a different image than “hydro-shop”.

It interesting because we have been discussing whether the term “garden center” was mis-understood by the younger generations, and whether we needed to change our image by calling ourselves something besides “garden centers”.

Sometimes in our efforts to appear relevant to generation x and y we make changes we think will help. Apparently the hydroponic crowd, which is full of generation x and y thinks the term “garden center” would help their part of the horticultural businesses be better understood.

Interesting.

Got a couple of comments on my post, “I couldn’t make it to the IGC show.” Sabine asked, ”Do you visit other garden centers that are not in your area whether on a faraway trip or 100 plus miles away? If you call ahead, how are you received? And have you ever had a fellow garden center stop by for a visit? Do you like them?” The answer is yes! Monica and I almost always stop in and visit nurseries where we are traveling. I let them know who we are and that we are just checking things out. Most of the time they are thrilled, just like when I receive visits from other nurseries. We just had a visit a couple of months ago from the manager of Amador Flower Farm. It’s about 30 miles from here. Apparently some of our customers we’re there and raved about us ,so he made the trip to visit. The best part is he bought some plants! I say visit other garden centers as much as possible.

As far as the IGC show I agree that being there would be the best experience. What’s being missed is we CAN”T go. Like Sabine said, ” We were planning on going but couldn’t for two reasons, timing, we are super busy right now with getting our little garden center up and running (open by spring 2009) and secondly, money. It would have cost over $3,000 just to travel there, hotel, food, trade show, and registration. That money would cover the new doors on the greenhouse or half of the shade structure.”

Small garden centers are always left out of the loop. That’s just the way it is. We don’t have the money, or time to fly half way across the country. Besides we have trade shows a lot closer to us, like San Francisco. The other thing is after going to trade shows for the last 25 years they just don’t excite me much. Yea, I am burned out on them. I go the the Nor Cal show every so often and it just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. Please don’t take this as a put down of trade shows. It’s just that for me personally the idea of attending doesn’t get my juices flowing. That’s why I like the idea of simulcasting the speakers presentations. At least we could be involved at a level we can afford in time, money, or intrest.

The Hines Nursery bankruptcy is no surprise here. Over the last couple of years the number of visitors that come to this blog looking for Hines Nursery News has been steadily growing. Google Hines Nursery Blog and up comes this blog. All this time the people most affected by the problems at Hines have been coming to this blog and this one particular post for information. I, and anyone who checked in on that post over the last year could see the writing on the wall.

This amazes me! One of the biggest horticultural concerns around goes bankrupt and the only information you could get about what was going on over the last year was management saying they have a plan, and the people who worked at Hines telling it like it is here.

Why did this blog become a lightning rod for Hines Nursery News? It was the only place where people who worked with Hines could speak their mind and be heard. Following the stats you could see someone would post a comment and soon someone at Hines would check it out. Pretty soon people who didn’t bookmark the blog address would Google “Hines Gecko Blog” to get here.

There is another reason why this became the place to go for info on Hines. From the very beginning my posts about Hines have been from the perspective of a former customer. The small nursery that felt left out as companies like Hines sold their souls to Home Depot and Lowes. That’s their right, but so what. It still amazed me that a company like Hines would sign on to a program like pay for scan, where they are not paid till Home Depot sells it. If the mega chain didn’t sell a plant, Hines wasn’t paid. Let them all die on the tarmac, even before they got into the store? Home Depot didn’t pay, Hines picked up the bill, and the dead plants. Of course none of us small, independent garden centers ever received this type of special treatment.

Things have changed. Before small garden centers like mine could only speak up at trade events or to sales reps. Now we have blogs where we can speak our minds, and it’s changing the face of the horticultural world.