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FROM THE BOARD 



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Competing Against the "Big Box" Stores 



Bob Demers, Jr. 



No matter where your business 

 is located, you will, at some 

 point, be faced with chain stores or 

 supermarkets out to gain some 

 quick cash by selling garden center 

 goods. It's frustrating to see them 

 selling goods at cost or near cost, 

 even though they say they don't do 

 that. (I've often thought about sell- 

 ing turkeys at cost at Thanksgiving 

 just to see what they'd say.) 



Unfortunately, the items you are 

 selling in the prime of your season 

 are the same ones they're liquidat- 

 ing. They use these items to draw 

 people into their stores where other 

 departments can make a profit on 

 the customers these low prices at- 

 tract. 



You have to put your frustrations 

 aside and think clearly about ways 

 to improve and strengthen your own 

 business in areas in which they are 

 weak. What can you do to draw cus- 

 tomers to your store? Why would 

 they want to shop there? You have 

 to imagine yourself as a customer 

 and try to see why you would want 

 to shop at your place. 



Some things to keep in mind is 

 that the trade stores are not going 

 anywhere: they have been around 

 forever — just like insects. They may 

 be bought out — but it's usually by a 

 bigger chain. And some of these 

 trade stores make millions of dol- 

 lars monthly (some — even weekly), 

 so don't think you're going to drive 

 them away As far as what items 

 they're selling and why, that is 

 simple — price, price, price Let's face 

 it — price sells There are people who 

 live for bargains, coupons, and sales 

 and think that getting a 99-cent ge- 

 ranium is great We all know what 

 they're getting for 99 cents 



There are people out there who 

 have never seen a real garden cen- 

 ter. That's what we have to work 



on — getting those people into our 

 stores. Here are some things we did 

 that might help you as well 



We don't compete against the 

 Big Boxes. We will not get involved 

 in their price wars. Whatever price 

 you advertise on a product, it is 

 their policy to beat it by 10%, so 

 even if you lower your price or sell 

 at cost, but you're not gaining any- 

 thing. You're actually paying be- 

 cause you haven't made any profit to 

 pay for the ad. Don't sell the same 

 brands they sell. Sell different — or 

 better — ones. Seventy-five percent of 

 your business is from repeat custom- 

 ers and chances are they'll buy what- 

 ever you recommend There will be 

 some "big box" items, however, that 

 you'll need to carry because your 

 customers ask for them 



Watch your sales. Don't give your 

 product away with gimmick ads. 

 Chances are you're not going to get 

 the bargain hunter anyway because 

 some trade store has bought 100 

 trailer loads of the one trailer load 

 you bought and wants to unload it 

 faster. You've got to ask yourself, 

 "Do I really want just bargain hunt- 

 ers or do 1 want quality repeat cus- 

 tomers?" Remember that you make 

 money only one month out of the 

 year, so make enough to survive for 

 the other eleven. 



Do things to reassure the cus- 

 tomers that you're here to stay. 

 Don't let your stock run out to the 

 point that you have nothing to sell. 

 If you don't have it, they'll go some- 

 place else — just as you would. It 

 may not be as good, but they did 

 what they set out to do. 



There are some inexpensive ways 

 to assure people that you plan to 

 stick around for a few more years. 

 Keep your place swept clean; keep 

 your display areas nice and neat. 

 continued on page 31 



Association Officers 



President 



BOB DEMERS, |R. 



Demers Nursery & Garden Center 



656 South Mammoth Road 



Manchester, NH 03103 



625-8298 



Secretary I Treasurer 



CHRISTOPHER ROBARGE 



UNH / TSAS 



Horticultural Facilities Manager 



Durham, NH 03824 



862-1074 



Directors 



KENNETH GOSSELIN 



207 Cranwell Drive 



Manchester, NH 03109 



627-6599 



TAMMY HATHAWAY 



61 Squamscott Road 



Stratham, NH 03885 



778-3912 



ANN HILTON 



4 Karaculi Lane 



Pittsfield, NH 03263 



435-6425. 



HENRY HUNTINGTON 



Pleasant View Gardens 



RFD #3, PO Box 3701 



Pittsfield, NH 03263 



435-8361 



ROBERT RIMOL 



17 Wyndmere Drive 



Londonderry, NH 03053 



425-6563 



PETER VAN BERKUM 



4 lames Road 



Deerfield, NH 03037 



463-7663 



32 



THE PLANTSMAN 



