Our June cover story, “You Snooze, You Lose,” focused on ways to keep people shopping at the garden center during the summer. Here are some more great ideas, courtesy of garden center folks from around the country:
Debi Drescher, marketing manager, Stauffers of Kissel Hill, Pennsylvania
“We host a ‘kids day’ in June featuring activities geared around kids 12 and under. This year for the first time we are offering a direct-mail coupon that went out in early June for $10 off every 40 dollars purchased. It will extend to mid-July. We continue strong advertising through July 4th with 'theme weeks' promoting summertime gardening: one week, perennials for shade; another week, perennials for sun; another week, 'jumbo pots for instant color;' another week 'water gardening.’ For July we co-host a 'garden & water garden tour' in July, which usually generates renewed interest in gardening and gets people back into our stores.”
Jana Ashba, owner, Village Green Garden Center, Wapakoneta, Ohio
“We sell a boatload of hostas. The new varieties that come out each year keep the excitement going.”
Emily Harvey, manager, Emily’s Gift Barn at Harvey’s Farm, Westborough, Mass.
“We find that keeping our customers updated through our e-mail newsletter promotes return visits throughout the ‘dog days’ of summer. As many garden centers dealing primarily with plant material are now seeking out other marketing avenues through gift items and produce sales, at Harvey’s, we got into this industry ‘a little backwards.’ We began as farmers, growing our own organic fruits and vegetables on our 50 acres alongside being a full-service garden center. Over the past three decades we have grown our gift barn into a destination, offering an array of unique gift items and product lines. We use our e-newsletter as a vehicle to notify families that they can come in to pick their own organic blueberries in July, a typically ‘quiet’ time of the season, or simply enjoy a family picnic in our grassy and shady picnic area. We’ve added products such as our own fruit cider slushies, a sweet, cool treat that hits the spot during hot and muggy days; people now ask for them!
“We also found that last summer, the first season in our newly-opened Dutch greenhouse, we didn’t have a ‘quiet’ summer. We maintained a ‘healthy inventory;’ annuals and perennials were well-stocked and so were other products, but weren’t overly-stocked. We have learned how to merchandise our plants and products to display the appearance of abundance even when we’re in the transitional stage between seasonal stock. We will continue to utilize the tools we know are successful, all the while seeking out new ways through educational offerings and agri-tourism to keep customers trickling in through a typically down time in the season.”
Kim Bird, vice president of marketing, Calloway’s Nursery, Fort Worth, Texas
“We’ve promote a Happy Hour on Friday afternoons and offer customers a discount on their purchase. We also offer Callie’s Kids, a mid-week children’s program held at each garden center twice a month to give kids something fun and educational to do during the summer and moms a good reason to visit the garden center.”
Steve Smith, owner, Sunnyside Nursery, Marysville, Wash.
"Probably the best thing we ever did was have a 50% off sale in August which generated a ton of business and converted inventory into cash. It also did a great job of training our customers to wait for the sale. So last year we took a different approach and as soon as things went out of bloom or looked tired they got moved to the "Take Me Home Please" department and reduced to 50% off. I give them a couple of weeks there and then they get donated to our local arboretum so by the end of the season we are pretty lean and don't really need to have a 50% off clearance sale."
Tom Hilgeman, general manager, White Oak Garden Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
"A few years ago we would send out a July Postcard promoting 30% off any one item. We did see a spike in sales during the 10 days of the promo. But about three years ago we made a change to doing more promtions in April and June and cutting the July postcard. The idea was to get customers in sooner and get them back in the store again after May. We found that no matter what the sale in July is, it is easier to get higher return on the postcard in June. So we have changed to a June postcard with a $10 off purchases of $30 or more or a similar offer."