Garden centers find success providing beautiful backdrops for couples on their wedding days.
Weddings come with many traditions: first dances, exchanges of vows and rings, white dresses and towering cakes. But increasingly, couples are choosing to put a new spin on their nuptials. Many still get married at the usual venues, like religious centers and ballrooms. However, many brides and grooms are opting to go in different directions for their ceremony and reception location by using places that are sacred to them. Whereas once people followed the customs of their families, offering a one-of-a-kind experience for guests is a goal of many weddings today.
That means business opportunities for garden centers, who are already commanding thousands of dollars in a day to rent out their facilities.
Hosting these big events offers other unexpected benefits beyond profits, according to the garden center owners and wedding coordinators interviewed for this article.
The average age that people get married is increasing. According to statistics from the Pew Research Center, it is 29 for men and 27 for women in the U.S. That is the generation that garden centers are trying to get into their stores. Tim Travis, president of Goldner Walsh Garden & Home, which has hosted weddings extensively since the recession, may have put it best: “Any time you have any event, you’re dealing with 50 to 200 people coming to your store, and 50 to 75 percent of them have never been there. Every regional business would love to have that many new customers come every week, particularly when they are paying me to come.”
Total Staff: 35 for all divisions, including retail, events, marketing, office staff and landscaping.
Interviewed: Jane Pearre, event coordinator, and Joel Barczak, co-owner
Total staff: 3 year-round; 10 to 15 in spring
Interviewed: Tiffany (Buchwalter)Sustar, wedding coordinator and assistant manager
Goldner Walsh Garden & Home, Pontiac, Michigan
Founded: 1953; purchased by Tim Travis, president, in 1988
Hosted first wedding ceremony in 2002; reinvented business and started focusing on events in 2009, in 2011, hosted next wedding
Wedding planning isn’t for the faint of heart, however, so this month, we dig into the details of hosting these events, and share experiences from three independent garden centers that execute the big day. They offer their planning advice and lessons learned, so that garden centers interested in venturing into this completely different segment of business are prepared.
All have seen an increase in interest and profits since they started hosting ceremonies and receptions, and wedding trends seem to align with the kind of places IGCs inherently are.
For example, according to an article on 2017 wedding trends by The Knot, “Expect to see pops of bold shades and bright color pairings. Pantone named Greenery the Color of the Year — it’s vibrant and earthy, making it perfect for all seasons.
“This fresh hue is symbolic of ‘the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose,’ says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. We expect to see this shade of green in everything from floral arrangements to colored linens.” And in venues, perhaps?
People want natural light, a rustic feel and verdant spaces. These popular options don’t seem to be fading, meaning weddings and garden centers could quite possibly be the perfect match.
Blumen Gardens: Joel Barczak, who owns Blumen Gardens with his wife, Joan, says the garden center’s first event wasn’t exactly planned. There was an outdoor fundraiser that was supposed to be downtown to raise money for the Red Cross’ effort to support victims of Hurricane Katrina. The event planners were worried about the weather, however, so they asked Barczak if they could use one of the spaces he had available in the historic factory he restored for his business that also houses other shops. The event was a huge success, they raised $35,000, and Barczak started getting requests for other events, including birthday parties and eventually weddings.
Buchwalter Greenhouse: Buchwalter started trying to promote weddings in 2014 as a way to diversify business and add another profit center during the off-season, says Tiffany (Buchwalter) Sustar, wedding coordinator and general manager. Once Sustar’s sister Bethany Ream decided to get married there, weddings took off.
Goldner Walsh Garden & Home: Tim Travis, president of Goldner Walsh Garden & Home, hosted the first wedding ceremony at his garden center back in 2002 for his friend, who wanted to get married Easter weekend but couldn’t find a church. Then, after the economy crashed in 2008, Travis decided to stop growing plants and use his production greenhouses as event space, and reinvented other aspects of his business.
BLUMEN GARDENS | PHOTOS BY MINDY LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY
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Blumen: Ceremonies take place outdoors in The Courtyard, a beautifully landscaped space that has brick walls and industrial beams juxtaposed with flowers, trees and shrubs. The reception takes place indoors in The Garden Room, housed in a factory that dates back to 1869 and features a wood ceiling, open beams, exposed brick and other rustic features. Cocktail hour takes place right in the garden center, which can include passed apps and is decorated with uplighting, high-top tables and string lights and also includes a pond. There is air conditioning, heat and indoor plumbing in The Garden Room, which can seat up to 220. There isn’t a designated space for the bridal room, but the bathroom has a full-length mirror and countertop.
Buchwalter: Wedding ceremony and receptions are held right in the retail greenhouse, which can seat up to 250. “The greenhouse is just heated, there’s no cooling. We let our couples know that it’s going to be like having an outdoor wedding but you have the protection of being inside, and there are fans all around,” Sustar says. “When they book a wedding with us, we include use of our facilities, and we have a bridal room that the bride can get ready in or just keep all of her things there and have a place to freshen up other than the bathroom.” The retail space is transformed, and the garden center stages with space with potted plants, hanging baskets and a fountain.
Goldner Walsh: The store is on 12 acres, and weddings are hosted in two greenhouses previously used for production and in a landscaped area for events. But when a couple rents the space for events, they have the entire nursery available to them, Travis says. Travis ceased growing operations after the economy crashed and transformed the greenhouses into The Cedar House, a smaller greenhouse for more intimate weddings, and The Celebration House, a 3,200-square-foot space that can host 180 seated guests. The spaces do not have heating or cooling, but there are indoor bathrooms.
Blumen: Year-round, all weddings start at 6 p.m. after regular garden center hours
Buchwalter: July through January only; events can start any time after 3 p.m. Buchwalter is changing its mid-summer hours soon from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday to 3 p.m. to accommodate weddings. “It’s so hot [in the summer] that there’s not many people who come in after the afternoon rush,” Sustar says. “I know we could be doing weddings in spring, but they don’t compete with the sales that we do.”
Goldner Walsh: May through mid-November, most start after 6:30 p.m.
All provide tables and chairs; none provide catering/food, alcohol or linens.
Blumen: “We have two event attendants at each party, so they are working the perimeter, checking the bathroom, cleaning up spills,” Barczak says. “We’re on-site and very involved. We do the decorating. We don’t let people go on the ladder. There’s a certain amount we charge per hour to cover our costs. We don’t want to greatly profit, but we don’t want people to hurt themselves.”
Buchwalter: “We offer general housekeeping services and clean up, take care of trash removal and recycling, check on bathrooms to make sure they are clean, stage the greenhouse with different types of foliage plants and fountains,” Sustar says. “When they walk in, they can set up what they want, but it’s ready to use when they walk in.” Sustar is usually the staff member on site for the weddings.
Goldner Walsh: Dishes, glassware and silverware are available for rent, and the rest, other than tables and chairs, is DIY.
None of the garden centers interviewed provide food or alcohol, but also do not require that guests use specific vendors, a benefit that helps them stay competitive with other venues in the area.
Blumen: Average of more than 30 a year. Saturdays in peak months are booked for 2018, so Blumen is only scheduling Fridays and Sundays, unless the couple wants January, February or March.
“Our peak is May-October, and September has become the new June for us. Our September will book up before June will,” says Jane Pearre, event coordinator.
Buchwalter: Five weddings hosted since starting in 2015, but have about six scheduled for 2017 alone. Sustar attributes this to having more photo examples, reviews, and their decision to invest in and provide tables and chairs.
Goldner Walsh: Typically Goldner only allows one per weekend. Travis says he’s had 400 inquiries already so far this year, and hosts about 30 each season, from May to mid-November.
Blumen Gardens: Barczak says the sales volume from weddings and other events now accounts for a third of his business. Weddings have also helped cross-promote the garden center and has led to referrals for other events, as well. “It has helped us maintain very high standards in terms of our garden center, in terms of presentation, in terms of cleanliness … now we look at our business through the eyes of a wedding guest. It’s different. We pride ourselves, there’s a couple of weeds here and there, but we work super hard at keeping this place at that level. Because retailing and visual merchandising is theater. We are very aware of presentation, but this keeps our game at a high level.”
Buchwalter: “It’s given us exposure in a different area to new customers that we haven’t had before,” Sustar says. “We’ve had a lot of new customers this year, and I think weddings have contributed to part of that, so it’s a nice little side bonus.”
Goldner Walsh: “It’s fun for us because we have something interesting happening every weekend night,” Travis says. “The great thing is any time you have any event, you’re dealing with 50 to 200 people coming to your store, and 50 to 75 percent of them have never been there. Every regional business would love to have that many new customers come every week, particularly when they are paying me to come.”
Blumen Gardens: The store is located in a neighborhood, so Barczak has to be diligent about maintaining sound, which he’s done through sound proofing and managing the time of the outdoor cocktail hour in the nursery.
Buchwalter: “Being new to the industry, one of the biggest things that’s important is having recommendations and people that have experienced being in your venue, so we didn’t have that [when we first tried to launch weddings in 2014],” Sustar says. “We did some mock set ups so people could see what the space looked like, but we didn’t have any pictures of a wedding taking place with people in it. I think there’s something about having people in the pictures that makes it realistic.” After trying to get weddings off the ground for about a year with no interest, Sustar almost gave up. “People weren’t able to visualize what it would look like.” Then, in 2015, Sustar’s sister wanted to get married at the business that’s been in her family since 1926, and they used images and a video from her reception to help promote weddings, which helped jumpstart the business.
Goldner Walsh: Travis says it is sometimes difficult working with parents, who are not used to the aesthetic of a production greenhouse. One parent asked him to paint the poles in the greenhouse so the rust wouldn’t show, for example.
Each independent garden center representative we spoke to said that the fact they allow couples to select their own vendors, from catering to DJs, and bring in their own alcohol, makes them unique compared with other traditional wedding venues in their areas. Plus, the venue itself is unique.
Blumen: Six staff members are solely focused on weddings and events, but in the past, Barczak and some of the garden center staff managed it themselves. There are at least two people on site for weddings.
Buchwalter: Sustar helps manage the garden center but is also the point person for weddings. They may expand staff as interest in weddings grows.
Goldner Walsh: There is at least one person from Goldner Walsh there to monitor the event, usually Travis.
Blumen: Suggestions provided for outside vendors; no florist on-site.
Buchwalter: “We don’t have a florist. We are very flexible because a lot of people like cut flowers, so they can use their own florist,” Sustar says. Sustar’s uncle has his own floral business, so she sends people to him if they want suggestions.
Goldner Walsh: Has a floral division and can accommodate weddings, but does not require clients use the in-house florist.
Blumen: A third down, nonrefundable deposit
Buchwalter: Half down, nonrefundable if within six months of event; option to rent the space for another event or find someone else to book it; $100 cancelation fee.
GOLDNER WALSH GARDEN + HOME | PHOTOS BY ROSY AND SHAUN PHOTOGRAPHY
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Blumen: Street parking is available in the residential neighborhood, plus Blumen has its own parking options.
Buchwalter: With larger weddings, staff helps direct parking. Buchwalter has 65 spots available but can also park cars in other areas of the property.
Goldner Walsh: Goldner Walsh has 50 spaces, plus the use of a lot with a vacant building across the street if necessary. Travis noted that most people have hotel shuttles and use ride-share services like Uber, so parking hasn’t been an issue.
Each garden center has a tab at the top of its website or a space on the homepage dedicated to weddings, and all promote heavily on social media. Sustar also noted that she takes advantage of Wedding Wire’s free advertising opportunities and posts on the website.
What garden centers and wedding authorities are saying is popular right now:
JANE PEARRE, event coordinator at Blumen Gardens:
“One of the biggest trends that I’ve seen is the more rustic look. Mason jars and burlap have been huge. Another popular option this year has been BBQ weddings. I’ve also noticed a huge upswing in September and October weddings and more Friday weddings. I think [Friday weddings] give the bride and grooms more time to spend with out of town family. Fridays are just as busy as Saturdays this year.”
TIFFANY SUSTAR, wedding coordinator and assistant manager at Buchwalter Greenhouse: “All the couples that we have had so far are drawn to the greenery, being around plants or just having a garden setting. Most of them usually said they are looking for something different than the normal venues that you can have a reception in. There is also a lot of interest this year with succulents. People are coming in to buy succulents for their own weddings and events, not necessarily just the weddings that are [hosted at Buchwalter]. I don’t see that trend going away very soon. A lot of people have also asked about fall. We had three weddings in the wintertime. We didn’t expect that, but everything is so dead and dreary that people commented on how nice it was to walk in and feel like you’re in this tropical place. It felt alive and green and lush.”
TIM TRAVIS, president at Goldner Walsh Garden & Home: “I require that all of our vendors recycle. I’m very actively involved in recycling and composting at my store as part of our culture. Any time we do a wedding or event, we recycle in-house. I don’t require the vendors to take their wine bottles home. I provide the facility to do that. I’ve had some couples tell me that one of the No. 1 reasons they chose us over anyone is that we recycle. It was important to them.”
More trends we spotted from wedding authorities: Couples are bringing in trees and shrubs to create a lush outdoor feel inside, safe from rain and the elements. — The Knot
“Pantone named greenery the Color of the Year—it’s vibrant and earthy, making it perfect for all seasons. This fresh hue is symbolic of ‘the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose,’ says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. We expect to see this shade of green in everything from floral arrangements to colored linens.” — The Knot
“One of the biggest trends we have seen is a floral wall installation, typically placed behind the altar,” says Marisa Malgieri, the Event Sales Manager at Brooklyn Winery in Brooklyn, New York. — Wedding Wire
Rustic chic, formal but with a natural feel, is popular. — Several sources
“‘Today’s couples want a wedding that will blow their guests away, and one of the key elements to an unforgettable event is the choice of venue. Any place with a large plot of land or a distinct building — or both — will allow couples to really personalize their wedding and help them tell their unique story,’ says Amy Cagginello, founder of Amy Champagne Events in Connecticut.”
Blumen: Blumen does not sell or distribute liquor, so they did not have to get a liquor license and have fewer liabilities. They do ask that wedding hosts get one-day event insurance.
Buchwalter: If couples want to have beer or wine, they have to get liquor liability insurance.
Blumen: “We used to do a $100 deposit, and they were bailing, just walking way without even telling us,” Barczak says. “We asked caterers and suppliers, and they suggested we take a third down when they book, which is non refundable.”
Buchwalter: “We didn’t go into this promoting it full force right away, because we wanted to get a couple of weddings under our belt first so we could adjust accordingly,” Sustar says. “One time a couple brought in seven roasters for food, and it kept tripping the breaker. We learned from that. They’ve got to check with us ahead of time for what their electrical needs are to make sure our facilities can handle it.
“My sister was the real practice run because the night before her wedding, we had this horrible thunderstorm with straight line winds. The greenhouse that we hold the weddings in is glass, but adjacent to it is a loading area where we have mulch and soil under a plastic cover on the top. So that ripped, and the soil was laying on top of the greenhouse, and it rained so hard that the water came in through the gutters, and she already had things set up. The tables got wet, the linens got wet, the floor was wet, and I told her, ‘Don’t blow up, it’s going to be fine.’ It wasn’t anything that couldn’t get wet. The table cloths dried, we squeegeed the floor and the next day you couldn’t tell that anything happened, and now we know.”
Goldner Walsh: Treat other wedding vendors as partners, not competitors. “What I did is open a conversation and a dialogue with all of the other vendors in my area, and I approached them not as a competitor but as a partner in servicing the needs of the customer,” Travis says. “What’s happened because of that is we refer each other now. Maybe [the couple] just wants me for the venue of the ceremony, and I’ve had a lot of referrals from the other venues where they want to have a reception there but not the ceremony.”
BUCHWALTER GREENHOUSE | PHOTOS BY ADRIENNE GERBER
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Blumen: “Recognize that it is two different business models,” Barczak says. “At first you may not be able to [hire] different staff but end up doing that later. This wedding business is a separate thing, and to maintain a separate identity is a challenge. We go to a lot of garden centers during our travels, so go to event spaces, do secret shopping. Look at wedding venues and see what people are doing. Educate yourself on what your competition is offering in terms of policies and contracts.
“Keep it transparent. We’ve raised our rates, and every year they go up,” Barczak adds. “We’ve learned in business not to be shy to ask for a fair price. People may think we are expensive, but they’ve never had a wedding before. We try to be competitive. At first we were underpriced. There are people that charge a lot more, but I don’t want to be prohibitive.”
Buchwalter: “It helps to have one person [be] the clients’ contact for any questions because otherwise it’s too easy to get your information crossed,” Sustar says. It’s important for people to be working with the same person.”
Goldner Walsh: “Not everybody is a good event planner, and it has to be in your blood,” Travis says. “Dealing with a wedding party is way different than dealing with a landscape customer. You have to be able to do both. I personally love to entertain so it’s a natural extension of who I am.”
The garden centers interviewed for this article indicated that for day-long venue rentals for weddings, they charge anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000. (Note: These businesses are in different areas of the country and offer slightly different services and spaces.)
Blumen: “It’s a love fest. We love weddings. People are happy, you bring people together, people are dancing and hugging and smiling,” Barczak says. “Forever you’ll go to a wedding with your [husband or wife], and whenever you hear the vows, you’re going to kiss each other or hold hands, and to have that energy here has been super great. I guess the financial aspect, too, but this is bigger than money.”
“My biggest reward is making dreams come true,” Pearre adds. “I live for that little thank you card two months later, ‘Thanks for helping bring our vision to life,’ ... after getting to know them over their planning process for the entire year.”
Buchwalter: “Seeing everyone smiling and enjoying themselves and having a good time and enjoying the space they are in,” Sustar says. “And providing a unique space for them to get married and having a very important memory of their life.”
Goldner Walsh: Travis now sees his business in a new light after customers told him his facilities would serve as beautiful event spaces, and the response he’s received from couples. “It wasn’t until they said that, that I looked at my space differently other than rows of plants to sell and old greenhouses. I initially thought the old greenhouses needed a lot of work, and it would be easier to tear them down,” Travis says. “Now, it’s ‘These old greenhouses are so cool, and I need to make sure that they are standing.’ Customers like those old, funky greenhouses. I’m someone who is into historic preservation ... if you have an aesthetic asset, you should never let that go away.”
Don’t want to host the big event? Consider offering wedding favors or decorations:
The 2017 GCA Summer Tour took attendees to 10 major retailers and other attractions throughout the historic region of Virginia.
Few places in the United States are as full of history as the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, and garden center retailers can certainly appreciate the importance of history.
More than 50 percent of those surveyed in Garden Center’s 2016 State of the Industry Report indicated that their businesses had been open for 25 years or more. Family involvement, generational succession and success from humble beginnings are hallmarks of many great garden centers, and the destinations of the Garden Centers of America 2017 Summer Tour embody this spirit of history.
The 2017 tour, which began with a reception on June 25 and was based in Newport News, Va., spanned three days of travel and included visits to 10 independent garden centers, as well as other destinations like the Norfolk Botanic Garden, the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg.
Dozens of retailers, growers, contractors and suppliers from around the country made their way to Newport News to network, sightsee and gain firsthand perspectives of some of the most prominent garden centers in Southeastern Virginia. Garden Center magazine was fortunate enough to have a place on the tour and bring these perspectives back to readers.
The 2018 GCA Summer Tour will be hosted in Seattle. Follow Garden Center magazine for updates on next year’s event as they become available.
SIZE: 24,500 square feet total retail
Ken Matthews Garden Center’s landscape design department accounts for 60 percent of the business, with retail accounting for the remainder. The Yorktown store, which opened in 1984, operates on a staff of about eight to nine employees during peak season, with an emphasis on allowing customers to explore the store’s showfloor and covered outdoor sales space.
“Our strategy here is to create a friendly, low-key, walk-in-the-park atmosphere,” owner Ken Matthews said while introducing the tour to his store.
The sense of exploration at Ken Matthews Garden Center is complemented by informative and inspirational signage that guides shoppers toward “year-round” garden color, sun-loving varieties and trees and shrubs that can act as “secondary plants.”
SIZE: 75,000 square feet outdoor sales, 33,000 square feet indoor sales
Although the store began as a wholesale grower in 1954, owner Clark Anderson decided to focus on retail operations in 1977 and expanded onto the building in 2009 with a 15,000-square-foot showroom. The store also includes Sage Kitchen, an on-site eatery that serves made-from-scratch soup, salad, sandwiches, “famous” chicken salad and more.
Clark Anderson is the brother of Eddie Anderson, owner of McDonald Garden Center. Robert Hendrickson, founder of the Garden Center Group and tour guide on the GCA Summer Tour, says the familial bond between the two companies is more collaborative than competitive.
“One pushes the other to be better at what they do,” Hendrickson says.
Digital integration can be seen in many forms at Anderson’s; speakers pipe in pop radio throughout the store, digital signage both guides customers and advertises special offers, and several merchandising displays feature small video monitors for playing product commercials.
Giftware, décor and apparel are very prominent categories at the Newport News Anderson’s store. Much of the inventory carries a nautical/beach theme, with mermaids, anchors, seagulls and more adorning several product displays. A large boutique area containing clothing and jewelry connects the main giftware department to the Sage Kitchen dining space.
Jason Blanchett, vice president of Anderson’s, says he’s pleased to host retailers from around the country.
“I think I’ve gotten a lot of my ideas from looking at other retailers and sort of evaluating what they do, and I think it’s good for everybody,” he says. “It’s a great time of year for downtime … for everybody to reset, get out of their stores, take those blinders off. It’s great for all parties involved.”
Darin Van Houten, who co-owns Van Houten Gardens in Bel Air, Md., with his wife, Elizabeth, says the Sage Kitchen was of particular interest during the visit to Anderson’s.
“We loved that they served alcohol. We’re looking — for as small as we are, we’re tiny — but we’re looking to do that, also,” he says.
SIZE: 10,100 square feet total retail
Set up in a fenced-in area in a parking lot behind a convenience store, the Williamsburg-Monticello garden market operated by McDonald Garden Center is one of 10 of these outdoor, seasonal pop-up garden markets that open each spring in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and other communities in the Hampton Roads area. At roughly 10,000 square feet, the Williamsburg-Monticello market is one of the company’s largest.
The markets are open from March through mid-July, though hours of operation can adjust depending on weather. As the markets operate on a tight schedule and must be removed at the end of each season, McDonald staff have developed an efficient system for setup and tear-down, Laura Moncure, market manage, says.
“We actually have a blueprint that, I believe, [McDonald president] Mark Anderson did at the beginning, when they were thinking about these pop-ups,” she says. “Every market has a specific blueprint, so that when the build-up crew comes, they know exactly where they need to place the tables and where everything is set.”
The fine-tuned blueprints also allow each market to give customers wide aisles and walkways to facilitate easier shopping despite a relatively small footprint.
The market carries a wide selection of perennials, ornamental grasses and edibles, to name a few.
Situated on about 2 acres of retail space, the deceptively large Sneed’s Nursery & Garden Center opens up into a long, narrow lot with retail displays that stretch back to a landscaping services office and nursery supply area in the back.
Visitors soon took notice of the chickens that wandered the mostly-outdoor garden center, as well as the coop they call home. Edibles such as peach, cherry, apricot and persimmon trees were interspersed among other green goods. Between the chicken coop, on-site beehives, fruit trees, and the shaded, outdoor atmosphere of the store, the store’s focus on natural food production is evident.
Jenny Jenkins-Rash, operations manager, says the store layout and product offerings are meant to complement the Sneeds’ philosophy.
“One of our focuses is organic and sustainable gardening practices,” she says. “Knowing where your food comes from is really important to us, so we have a lot of organic vegetables in a small-space vegetable garden. We want people to know you can do it no matter what you’ve got, even if you’re renting. The chickens and the bees are kind of an extension of that, so you can be an urban farmer right here in the city.”
Although Sneed’s is celebrating its 42nd year in business, the staff has only managed beehives on the property for two years. The hives do not produce honey yet, but the ongoing beekeeping process is intended to demonstrate to customers that they too can actively support pollinators in their area. Jenkins-Rash says the chickens also create a destination for entire families of customers to enjoy.
“There are five [hens] that are free range,” she says. “Customers love it. The chickens will run around and you can give them fruit — some customers come here just for that. Moms with younger kids will stop by, feed the chickens and check them out. It’s fun.”
When naming a business, it sometimes makes sense to be direct. In the case of The Great Big Greenhouse, the name is certainly an apt one. The Richmond-based IGC, founded in 1977 and purchased by Meadows Farms Nurseries in 2010, sells from around 30,000 square feet of indoor retail and 5 acres of outdoor sales space. During the visit, GCA tour attendees sat down for lunch and heard a few words from owner Jay Meadows, who said the goals and management styles of Meadows Farms and The Great Big Greenhouse have blended “very nicely.”
“That’s hard to do, we’re kind of two different businesses,” Meadows says. “This [place] has a much different feel than my other 19 locations, but I think we did a really nice job of it. We retained a lot of the staff, we got some great people in a nice, easy transition. I think we added a lot to the marketing that was already being done here at the Great Big Greenhouse.”
One major innovation at the Great Big Greenhouse since the change in ownership is the store’s email list. Customers are encouraged to sign up to access members-only sales and have the option of an emailed receipt.
“Tremendous marketing opportunity there,” Meadows says. “We took it from zero to about 30,000 [names] here at the Great Big Greenhouse — Meadows Farms has about another 200,000 names on our email list. It’s very inexpensive and very effective.”
Outside, the store opens up into a sprawling field of shrubs, perennials, woody ornamentals and even a bonsai display. A pollinator-friendly display is maintained near the store building, and was practically swarming with bees during the visit — demonstrating the flowers’ effectiveness in attracting pollinators.
Cross Creek has a primary focus on landscaping services, with garden and nursery retail accounting for about 35 percent of the business. Several supplementary divisions, such as a full-service florist, ponds and streams and a bag-your-own mulch department round out the company’s offerings. As a grower-retailer that sells several in-house annuals, perennials and woody ornamentals, Cross Creek is committed to ensuring success for its customers. Signs near the tree displays include helpful “how to plant” tips and the company offers a one-year guarantee on its trees and shrubs.
Trees are not only sold at Cross Creek, but they’re used creatively to provide shade for customers. Large deciduous trees dot the outdoor sales area, providing shade for visitors browsing the various perennials displays. Tour attendee Jenell Martin, general manager of Catalpa Grove Farm in Columbiana, Ohio, says this particular touch caught her eye.
“My favorite part was their natural shading, where they just used the trees and set rows of perennials in between the trees,” Martin says. “That’s genius. You don’t need to put up a separate structure or shade cloth.”
Reflecting on the first two days of the tour, Martin says that she’s excited at the opportunity to see how other IGCs operate, especially regarding McDonald Garden Center’s seasonal markets.
“[Catalpa Grove Farm is] definitely in a more rural area, so this is good to get a different perspective. I really liked [the McDonald pop-up],” she says. “We have a produce farm, so we’ve often talked about doing a pop-up with produce, so it was really cool to get the idea that maybe we could do plants. And I loved how they talked about how they have it down to a science. They move the shed in, they bury the electric line, they have it very efficient. It can be done.”
One of the oldest planned shopping districts in U.S. history, Merchants Square comprises more than 40 modern shops and restaurants, including garden decor boutique Boxwood & Berry. Tour attendees browsed the walkable shopping district on their own and in loose groups to close out the tour’s second day.
SIZE: 54,592 square feet total retail
WEBSITE: www.store.whitesnursery.com
Given the size of White’s Nursery & Garden Center’s property, the tour was divided into smaller groups of visitors in order to ensure everyone saw the retail and growing facilities. Helpful signage points customers through the main building — originally a hoop house with additional construction built onto it — into the retail greenhouse and out into the outdoor sales space.
The main retail building is dedicated almost exclusively to giftware, tools and décor, including locally-made honey. Televisions are placed throughout the room, running commercials from suppliers and also promoting the White’s Nursery & Garden Center Facebook page.
Inside White’s retail greenhouse, visitors found a couple of added features intended to make customers feel more welcome in the store. A children’s play area gives younger gardeners a place to go while their parents shop, and popcorn and coffee machines are always running in the greenhouse to give customers something to eat or drink while browsing plants.
Outside, a paved pathway offers a comfortable walk through rows of potted shrubs, fruit trees and ornamentals. Scattered around the property are clearly-marked specialty service stations, including a “potting shed” area and a “glass house.”
Tour attendee Trent Mohlenbrock, co-owner of Changing Seasons Landscape Center Co., in Marion, Ill., says he appreciated the added touch of a concrete path in the outdoor sales area, where many other IGCs settle for gravel or dirt walkways.
“The layout and the hard surface is nice,” Mohlenbrock says. “Of course, that’s money, but it’s good to have a nice path like this.”
After getting a sample of the McDonald brand at the company’s Williamsburg seasonal market the previous day, the GCA 2017 Summer Tour group received the full course during the tour’s last day.
Opened in 1981, the Virginia Beach location of McDonald Garden Center is known in its community for a hosting a variety of special events including a spring gardening show in the first weekend of March, a “Crepe Myrtle Festival” and a “Grilling in the Garden” event, to name a few.
The store itself, however, which spans about 6 acres of total retail space, was the main attraction. An entrance adorned with trellises, hanging baskets and rows of containers set the tone for the store immediately upon entry. Hard goods such as benches and statuary were interspersed among potted plants and decorative plantings, creating a natural garden space atmosphere.
Once beyond the entrance, walkways weave through and between sections of woody ornamentals, tables packed with annuals and perennials and specially-marked departments. Some nursery stock is kept underneath natural shade trees, as seen at Cross Creek the previous day. Each component of the store flows together with unobtrusive but eye-catching signage.
Of particular note is the way that special sections of the store, with memorable monikers like “barn boutique” and “shady ladies,” are clearly marked and have unique identities granted by inventive merchandising. Barbara Kelly, sales representative with Turtle Creek Nursery, Inc. in Davidson, N.C., says the Virginia Beach McDonald store is full of inspiration.
“I like how they have set scenes so that you can envision it for your own home, what fits your personality,” Kelly says. “Sometimes when you just have rows of plants, you can’t envision it combined with a contrasting plant that would look beautiful with it. They’ve done that. Many of the garden centers have, but they’ve combined stone and wood and other things that you can do yourself to be creative. I think it inspires you to be creative here.”
Michaela Klockmann, sales rep with Scheurich USA Inc. in Chicago, adds that the store benefits greatly from thematically consistent branding and signage.
“What I really think is good is the coloring and the signage, where you can really recognize McDonald,” Klockmann says. “It’s like that satellite market — you come in here and you see the pink and the signage and you recognize the signs immediately. It feels very familiar.”
SIZE: 60,000 square feet total retail
It was then time to explore Atlantic Garden Center, a 60,000 square-foot storefront operated since 1991 by husband-and-wife owners Jim and Jane Crowell. The visit to Atlantic was marked by a bittersweet passing of the torch; the Crowells are going into retirement and as a result, the store will close at the end of July. However, the building is being taken over by McDonald Garden Center and will become the retailer’s second Virginia Beach location, leaving McDonald with two permanent stores after its Chesapeake and Hampton stores close later this year.
Citing his grandchildren as a primary motivator for his and Jane’s retirement, Jim Crowell explained the ongoing process to the tour group at Atlantic Garden Center. Mark Anderson is buying out the lease Jim and Jane have on the property, and Anderson plans to spend around $100,000 to refurbish the storefront and make it into a McDonald Garden Center store.
Mark says that the location of Atlantic Garden Center affords an opportunity to access a customer base the Hampton and Chesapeake McDonald stores missed out on. With the Crowells easing out of the business, he saw the value in stepping in to take their place.
“We have been looking for the past three or four years for a place to buy and build a new site on,” Mark says. “So, we switched gears, and especially when Jim came to me — we started talking about this. It was a wonderful opportunity for us. We do have five-year extensions on the lease … so, we got it basically locked up for 20 years if we decide to stay here. And then if things are really good, we’ll try to lock it up more than that.”
As the Crowells are attempting to sell off as much inventory as possible before retiring, displays at Atlantic Garden Center felt relatively sparse, especially in terms of décor and giftware. In the main retail greenhouse and in the outdoor sales yard, potted plants were displayed on basic tables and benches separated by wide aisles and walkways.
When McDonald Garden Center moves into Atlantic’s building, it’ll benefit from the location’s adjacency to a shopping plaza and several specialty stores, as well as Atlantic’s in-store post office, a feature that Mark says he plans to keep.
SIZE: 124,500 square feet total retail
Much like the Anderson’s store in Newport News, this location presents itself as a clean, bright and modern garden store reminiscent of specialty department stores. The Virginia Beach store sets itself apart with a more open floor plan and a greater volume of outdoor sales space, with 90,000 square feet compared to 75,000 square feet at the Newport News store.
Presentation is key at Anderson’s, as demonstrated by the inventive and attractive signage leading customers to the greenhouse and trees and shrubs areas. Several merchandising displays are accompanied by corresponding artwork, such as a section of pollinator-friendly plants accented by a hummingbird-themed metal silhouette, or a “#greenhousetotable” sign surrounded by patio furniture suspended from the ceiling.
“I like how they differentiate the spaces with things over your head, whether it be the arbors outside or that entryway,” says Sam Brown, owner of Fiddleheads Garden Center in Dalton, Ga. “I like details like that — that’s one of the things we try to do. It gives [the store] character so it doesn’t just feel like a big box store. Something this size could definitely feel more like a chain.”
Although they are clearly distinct businesses, similarities between the sensibilities and approach of Anderson’s and McDonald stores are hard to ignore. That’s no coincidence, as Clark Anderson, owner of Anderson’s, is the brother of Eddie Anderson, owner of McDonald Garden Center and Mark’s father. Clark addressed the tour group at the end of the tour, after tour attendees had started to gather in the Anderson’s patio area to take in live music and socialize later in the evening.
“Horticulture is in the Anderson family blood,” Clark says.
Commenting on his company’s unusually upscale and broad approach to garden retail, Clark says the Anderson’s mission as introducing people to a “plant oriented-lifestyle.”
“We don’t want to look too much like a garden center,” he says. “This might, in fact, be the garden center of the future.”
Speaking of the future, Robert Hendrickson, founder of the Garden Center Group and a chaperone on the GCA 2017 Summer Tour, announced at Anderson’s that the 2017 summer event would be his final year touring with Garden Centers of America, citing obligations to his family and his own farm business.
Like Hendrickson, every business involved in the tour, whether by hosting or sending attendants, is constantly looking to the future and inward toward self-improvement. The drive to grow, adapt and thrive is a defining feature of the independent garden center industry, but looking outward for new ideas is also a hallmark of a successful business.
ALL PHOTOS BY CONNER HOWARD
Vineland Research and Innovation Centre’s Dr. Alexandra Grygorczyk and other researchers are working to improve communications between the horticulture sector and its consumers.
A company’s end goal is to sell its products to consumers. Selling can be a complicated, confusing process, and every little detail matters. This is especially true when it comes to plants, where industry jargon and terminology can confuse consumers more than they inform them.
Take the term “conventional plant breeding.” While the term is considered part of everyday language in the green industry, Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) researcher Dr. Alexandra Grygorczyk found that nearly 2/3 of consumers either could not offer a guess as to what it meant or believed it was a production practice like “growing plants with no pesticides” or “no human intervention.” Any mention of genes or genetics leads many consumers to assume we’re talking about genetically modified organisms — GMO, for short. Since the first GMOs reached the market, they have become taboo among consumers.
“Not all consumers are the same and there are a lot of different opinions,” says Grygorczyk. “There are people against GMOs, but the majority are just unsure. And the reaction is generally, ‘Well I’ve heard they’re bad, but I don’t really know what to think about them.’” That uncertainty bleeds into all other aspects of new variety development.
This is the wariness Grygorczyk and other researchers at Vineland, located in Ontario, Canada, are trying to sift through. As she describes it, Grygorczyk’s work seeks to understand what the consumer wants and needs. Her research covers a broad range of topics — including studying consumer trends to identify new market opportunities, informing targets within the breeding programs, providing guidance on selection of new varieties for commercialization and messaging of production practices to improve communication between experts and consumers.
Vineland’s team quickly came to realize that some of the words they were using didn’t mean the same thing to consumers as they did to the researchers. Grygorczyk says that Vineland’s research into horticulture technology communication began as an offshoot of their research into people’s comfort with pest management methods. Early on, they found that the term “biological agent,” used to describe insects or microorganisms in biocontrol, was mistaken for pesticides by nearly one out of three consumers. In some instances, people even associated the term with biological weapons. “If something as seemingly benign as biological control could be so vastly misinterpreted, we wondered how we were faring with communication about plant breeding,” says Grygorczyk.
To better explore consumer inclinations, Grygorczyk used online surveys, in-person focus groups, and consumer interviews to understand what the public was hearing when different explanations of breeding technologies were used.
“We wanted to achieve a better understanding of how we [can] make sure we’re not misleading people by using technical jargon,” she says. “In one study, we started off with a focus group where we explained various breeding methods to people. We wanted to know what their immediate gut reactions were and what they associated those explanations with.”
One example Grygorczyk cites is the use of terms such as “mother plant” and “baby plant” when explaining plant breeding. Although it seems intuitive to explain it that way, when plants are humanized with terms like mother, father or baby, people have a hard time switching out of that mindframe and imagine everything is being done to humans. Even something as fundamental as “plant breeding” turns into “forcing plants into a relationship.” It only gets more sensitive when talking about newer technologies such as “marker-assisted selection.”
To the average consumer, this term probably means nothing. But to a researcher, it’s a tool that analyzes a genome’s genetic code and then hints as to whether the plant will grow into a plant that you will want to continue breeding or discard. In Vineland’s focus groups, using the terms mother plant or baby plant in explanations of “marker-assisted selection” lead to conversations about the ethics of whether you should choose to keep something alive or not, based on its genetic code. Regardless of what the main topic was, consumers’ minds became more fixated on what they understood words to be, even if they weren’t correct in their assumptions. This can also be attributed to being fearful of something new.
“It’s like when power lines were first put up,” Grygorczyk says. “People were worried about the electricity affecting their health. Or anything people saw as exotic, it kind of scared them. That’s why we’ve noticed that familiarizing things is very important, such as showing the researcher or grower’s face alongside the plant, instead of zooming in only on the plant and instrumentation.”
So, what’s the solution? According to Grygorczyk, consumers are responding more and more to shared values conveyed by brands. Typically, most consumers don’t care about the technical details of how a new variety is cultivated or how it was developed. Instead, they want to know what the product stands for. Proper messaging also includes appropriate word choices, message framing and who is delivering the message, Grygorczyk says.
“Whether the motivation is to reduce land usage or to preserve natural habitats, those kinds of shared values resonate better and they make farming stories more effective,” she says. “The agricultural industry spends a lot of time out there in nature, and they don’t want to ruin the environment. But we tend to skip over those stories and just get to the science.”
Chris is assistant editor of sister publication Greenhouse Management magazine.
Fountains and ponds can be used in a wide variety of ways — not just as a product category, but as a method for enhancing the customer experience.
Simple ways to improve your signs and make shopping easier for customers.
Target does it. Home Depot does it. “It” is using signage effectively to help their customers quickly find the products they are looking for.
If successful retailers spend money on signage, it must make financial sense. With today’s printing costs and available technology, even small garden centers can implement a cost-effective signage program.
I’ve heard garden center owners say they don’t use signage because they want their customers to meander through the garden center. That also means that the owners are forcing their customers to hunt for plants. Good signage does not prevent the “meanderers” from taking as much time as they want, but it does help those who are in a hurry.
Others say signage gets in the way of meaningful conversations, including one owner who said he wanted his staff to talk with his customers and didn’t want to lose the personal touch. However, many customers, or potential customers, don’t want to talk to staff. Even if each of his customers wanted help, most garden centers do not have enough educated staff to meet those demands.
Think about how many times you have been asked, “Can I help you?” in a store and you have responded, “No thanks, I’m just looking.” If those stores have appropriate signage, you can make a purchase decision without talking to anyone. If you want to chat or need input, you can still take advantage of knowledgeable staff.
All too frequently I hear, “I have too many varieties and too many sizes to sign everything, and my prices change, so I can’t have signs with prices.” Unfortunately, this is not taking the customer into consideration. As consumers, we expect to know how much something costs, easily. For example, think about the milk coolers at the grocery store. They have gallons, half gallons, pints and quarts in all types of “varieties”; 1 percent, 2 percent, whole, skim, chocolate, soy, organic, almond, coconut, etc. Yet, they all have price signs that can be easily seen without having to pick up the product. I have seen the same size plant individually priced with different prices based on the source. That must be confusing to the shopper.
To continue with the milk example, imagine no shelf price signs and each carton had a price sticker. If some of the 1-gallon, 2 percent milk cartons were priced at $2.29 and others at $2.59, don’t you think there would be some confusion? Shoppers would be picking up all the different products to find the cheapest one. Or, they might be confused enough to not buy, especially if they really don’t need it.
Unfortunately, we’re in an industry where very few plants are “needed,” so we must make it easy for our customers to know the price.
If you need to change your prices, small, all-weather labels are an inexpensive way to update plant prices on an existing bench card.
Don’t assume your customers know more than they do. In one garden center, I saw a sign with “All 1 Gallon Perennials = $9.99.” This assumes that shoppers know what both a 1-gallon container and a perennial are. For people who don’t know plants, that would be like an electronics store with this sign, “All 15” laptops with 1.2GHz processors $799.” The “tech nerds” assumed everyone knows what products that refers to. Wouldn’t it be easier for the shopper if all the laptops had an easy to read price sign?
Don’t be the “plant nerd” who assumes the customer knows more than they do.
Retail stores compete with anyone or anything that takes time and/or money. If your customer runs out of time or money or worse yet, both, they will not be spending either with you. Good signage addresses the time constraint as shoppers can quickly find what they’re looking for, pay and get on with their day.
An individual sign or type of sign will not cut it. A good sign program will make it easy to:
Depending on the size of your garden center and the number of varieties you have, all four levels of signage may not be needed. However, the first and third or fourth levels apply everywhere.
If you’re still reading, then you must be interested in starting or improving your signage. Let’s start by addressing five common problems that make signs difficult to read.
One of the biggest sign mistakes is using lettering that is far too small. There are three primary reasons people make this mistake.
With a standard inkjet or laser printer and letter size paper, you can properly size fonts for most signs. If you think 4-inch letters will be big enough for your sign, print out “Testing” with 4-inch tall letters. Tape the sheets of letters together and put them where the sign will be. Have various people can read the test word from the spot where shoppers will first see it. Based on their feedback, you will know if you need to increase the size of the letters. Also, font size required for legibility varies based on font style. A light-weight “scripty” font, which I wouldn’t recommend in most situations, must be much larger to be easily read as compared to a stronger, simple font.
If you’re not careful, a sign can be transformed into an article very quickly as you keep thinking of things you want to tell your customer. The more you try to say, the less is heard. If your sign is too busy and cluttered, nothing will be communicated. As painful as it is to admit, remember your typical customer cares much, much less about what you have to say than you do. Keep is short and sweet.
If you’re verbose, use the 40/60 rule. Keep content to roughly 40 percent with 60 percent white space. Of course, there are some exceptions, but if you use appropriate font sizes and this ratio, it will help you keep your message focused and easy to read.
Unless you a sign is against a wall, it may be difficult to read due to light “bleeding” through. This is particularly true if the sign will have direct sunlight behind it at some point in the day.
It is a little more expensive, but coroplast (corrugated plastic) and vinyl are available with a block-out layer to prevent light from bleeding through so your message can be easily read.
It is quite common for people to be disappointed with the lack of “pop” on their actual signs versus what they approved on the monitor. Similar to font size, approving color choices based solely on what you see on a computer monitor can result in signs that are difficult to read.
What is the purpose of a road sign? Before reading any further, please take a minute or two to answer that question. Road signs are designed to be easily seen and communicate an important message quickly. This should be the same goal for your store signage. Road sign colors are selected for a very high degree of contrast. Think white on green, black on white, white on red, black on yellow and white on blue. “Contrast” does not have to mean “ugly.”
This is the first in a series of two signage articles that will provide practical solutions and real-world examples to help you step up your sign game.
Timothy is the founder of Clarity Connect, a website design company focused on the horticulture industry, and GardenCenterMarketing.com, an online solution that allows garden centers to create customized plant bench cards, hang tags and pot labels from their plant library. www.Clarity-Connect.com.
1. Armstrong Garden Centers’ Torrance, Calif., store ensures houseplant success by using signage to define what low light plants are and which plants fit into that category.
2. Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar, Calif., has entire landscapes designed with “California friendly plants” to show customers what they can do in their own gardens.
3. Armstrong Garden Centers doesn’t assume that gardeners know what shade plants are, and breaks down the term for them.
4. It’s never good to leave customers guessing about where to find what they need. At White’s Old Mill Garden Center in Chesapeake, Va., departments are clearly marked and pointed out.
5. Educational signage doesn’t have to be wordy. This conversational sign at Roger’s Gardens keeps the tone friendly and fun, while still pointing out organic items to shoppers.
6. Roger’s Gardens smartly promoted an upcoming tillandsia glass garden workshop in a framed, rustic sign nearby related items, like these glass containers and how-to books.
7. Retailers must live in the 21st century, so it can’t hurt to update signage as well. This video monitor at the Newport News, Va., location of Anderson’s refreshes at regular intervals, flashing between a directional guide for the store and advertisements for special sales.
8. It can be difficult to sell sub-par plants, but with this sign, Sneed’s Nursery and Garden Center in Richmond, Va., re-brands their less-impressive products as “Charlie Brown Trees” that just need “a little love” while guiding customers to them.