FROM THE BOARD 



A Flatlander's View of New Hampshire 



Bob Rimol 



Last )uly, my wife, two daughters, 

 and I relocated to the Granite 

 State in search of a better quality of 

 life. We had lived in New jersey for 

 five years and were tired of the high 

 cost of living and the "rat race." 

 Since my wife is a native New 

 Englander and we are both Univer- 

 sity of Vermont graduates, the term 

 "flatlander" is familiar to us 



As I see it, the beautiful state of 

 New Hampshire is an excellent mix 

 of Vermont ruralism and values and 

 Massachusetts suburbanism and ide- 

 ology. New Hampshire is on the 

 brink of becoming a major player in 

 the greenhouse industry. Southern 

 New Hampshire (Concord south to 

 the Massachusetts border and the 

 SeacoastI is rapidly growing. Growth 

 can be seen in the industrial, hous- 

 ing, and retail markets there. 



Growth in the retail markets is 

 largely due to the fact that New 

 Hampshire does not have a sales 

 tax. Without a sales tax, New Hamp- 

 shire plays host to every major chain 

 store — Home Depot, HQ, K-Mart, 

 Wal-Mart, etc. This is both good and 

 bad. The chain stores have changed 

 our industry and have given us a 

 wake-up call to become more pru- 

 dent in our business strategy. They 

 have increased awareness in our in- 

 dustry by making plants more com- 

 mon as a typical SKU and they have 

 provided job opportunities for many 

 people. 



However, on the flip side of 

 things, they have saturated certain 

 markets. For example in Southern 

 Manchester, within one mile of each 

 other, there is a Home Depot, an 

 HQ, and a K-Mart. This is the fast 

 food strip of the horticultural mar- 

 ket — fast, easy, convenient, with low- 

 cost and often loss-leader items in 

 both hard goods and green goods. 

 With the retail giants, the average 

 weekly salary is about half or less 

 than half of a worker's in a skilled 

 profession, trade, or industry, thus 



April & May 1995 



resulting in less disposable income. 

 And in order to make up for a lack 

 of sales tax revenues, property taxes 

 in New Hampshire are high relative 

 to property values, which is a deter- 

 rent to industry thinking about relo- 

 cating to New Hampshire. No, I am 

 not one to advocate more taxes, 

 but we do need to address this 



PPGA HIGHLIGHTS 



Psychology 

 of Pricing 



HOW YOU PRICE CAN HAVE A 

 big impact on your sales 

 according to Competitive Advan- 

 tage as cited in Floral Manage- 

 ment, 1/94. Here are some 

 strategies that can boost 

 sales: 



* Sell multiple products at 

 once. Three for 99c sells more 

 than one for 33c. 



• Drop the zeros. $35.00 

 seems higher than $35. 



• A dollar or two below an 

 even round price sells well. 

 Instead of selling a plant for 

 $20, try $19— or even $19.95. 



• A dollar or two above the 

 round number sells poorly. 

 Oddly enough, $33 may seem 

 like a better deal to your cus- 

 tomers than $31 or $32. 



* Spell out the savings twice. 

 If you advertise an item at 

 50% off, also show the original 

 price and the sale price. 



* "Buy one, get one free" 

 seems like a better deal than 

 "half price," which makes 

 items seem old or stale to 

 customers. 



From PPGA News, January 1995 



problem of high property taxes so 

 that we can make the business cli- 

 mate more inviting to industry in 

 New Hampshire. 



High property taxes also leads to 

 the issue of large greenhouse 

 ranges. How come we do not have 

 large greenhouse ranges in New 

 Hampshire growing to the mass mer- 

 chants? The markets are right in our 

 backyards and we are letting green- 

 house growers from other states reap 

 the rewards of our local markets. If 

 Wal-Mart can build a large distribu- 

 tion center in Raymond, our state 

 should be able to be a distribution 

 center for the horticultural markets 

 throughout the Northeast. 



This is where you as a NHPGA 

 member has to get involved in our 

 future. The NHPGA is proposing to 

 pass legislation similar to that in 

 other states to protect greenhouse 

 growers from the burden of high 

 property taxes, promote greenhouse 

 growing as a key industry, and elimi- 

 nate the local red tape of green- 

 house construction to give green- 

 houses the "right to farm". You have 

 to get involved. In an upcoming is- 

 sue of Tfie Plantsman you will hear 

 more about the progress of the pro- 

 posed legislation, and you will have 

 an opportunity to comment on the 

 content and get involved by writing 

 to your representatives. 



As our industry changes and op- 

 portunities become more readily 

 available, NHPGA members should 

 be more confident in their future Be 

 active in your Association, and pro- 

 mote your industry. It is certainly go- 

 ing to get more complex in the fu- 

 ture, but if you stay in touch with 

 the changing business environment, 

 and you work at it — you will not only 

 survive — you will excel. 



Bob Rimol is President of Rimol Associates, 

 Inc., 17 'Wyndmere Drive, Londonderry, 

 NH 03053. He can be reached at 

 603-425-6563. 



