Interesting Trends

Renter or owner?

Since so many of the gardening businesses depend on home owners for business, these trends are worth noting. The article comes from “Metro Pulse” out of Knoxville, TN.  These trends offer some garden centers opportunities, while overall changing the face of who our customers will be.

The three trends that are emerging are:

1. We are becoming a nation of renters. Going from above 65% home ownership to 55%.

2. More extended families living together.

3. New subdivisions are on hold for the foreseeable future.

Since home ownership was the foundation of which many of us in the business got started, it will be interesting to see how these trends translate in how we do business.


About Trey Pitsenberger

Trey is a nurseryman, author, and speaker.

03. December 2011 by Trey Pitsenberger
Categories: | Tags: , , , , , , | 4 comments

Comments (4)

  1. Karen Everett Watson says December 3, 2011 at 8:48 am

    Good information for targeting the right customers! Blogs on gardening with children, patio gardening and easy-care plants might bring them in. The nurseries around here, say older people make up their biggest customer base.

    • Trey Pitsenberger says December 3, 2011 at 11:33 am

      Karen, I was also wondering if older people who might now be giving up on gardening (negative for nursery biz)will have newly arrived family members that might take over the garden work (positive for nurseries). Of course that’s how it use to be in the “old days”.

  2. Astersia says December 4, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    Just curious. You posted the garden of the family (in Michigan, was it?) that was harassed by city hall for putting a veggie garden in their front yard. Rent or own, shouldn’t the nursery industry be actively working to be sure this type of activity is encouraged? The harassment was partly responsible for causing this family to be very glad to move away. I recall reading her blog.

  3. stone says January 2, 2012 at 5:34 am

    You know… I am left wondering what conclusions you drew from this trend…
    I have friends that rent, and I’ve often found that many landlords will allow us to plant a garden in the front yard… Especially if you find a landlord that isn’t putting much effort into yard maintenance!
    One year, I was fixing up one side of a duplex, and the landlord hinted that the yards didn’t match… He opened a door that I failed to follow through on… probably coulda gotten some free rent outa the deal if Ida followed up.
    So… Books on gardening for renters, Ez plants for the unamended rental yard. The demand for native plants should increase, as people understand how little is required to keep them nice.
    The thing about planting a garden of perennials… they get roundup sprayed on them if you leave… You would have to talk to the landlord about the ones that you wanted to take with you… when time came to move…