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FROM THE BOARD 



Are We Killing Our Own Business? 



Robert E. Demers, ]r. 



Every year EVERYONE hopes 

 for a good spring. It's a gar- 

 den center's favorite time. 

 You can sell almost anything be- 

 cause you have good traffic flow. 

 As spring moves along, you're out 

 straight, working crazy hours and 

 trying to maintain a halfway decent 

 home life. The biggest day is Me- 

 morial Day or the day of your an- 

 nual open house. 



But what about after that? 

 You're tired, maybe even burnt- 

 out; customer traffic has slowed 

 and you think you might be left 

 with merchandise you can't get rid 

 of — so what do you do? You put 

 it on sale for 50% off, clear off the 

 benches, and start gearing down 

 for summer. 



Are we killing our own busi- 

 ness? Did you ever sit back and 

 think that you can have a summer 

 business of annuals and perennials 

 that's just as good as your bed- 

 ding plant business in spring? 

 You could! It will take effort over 

 a few years to build it up and get 

 your customers used to what you 

 have to offer. 



Liquidating your plant material 

 in June is bad business all the way 

 around. You stop buying from 

 wholesalers and they stop growing 

 the items. (You can't blame them 

 — they need to maintain a certain 

 sales level to justify growing that 

 plant.) 



When a customer comes along 

 and sees that your benches are 

 starting to empty, what do you 

 suppose is going through that 

 customer's mind? I know what Id 

 be thinking: I'd be thinking that 

 you were finished for the season 

 and that I'd better go somewhere 

 else. (By the way, we sell gerani- 

 ums through mid-)uly.) 



Put yourself in your customer's 

 shoes and ask yourself, "Am I kill- 

 ing my own business?" Drive into 

 your parking lot, get out of your 

 car, walk into your place and see 



it from your customer's eyes. Are 

 empty shelves and benches ap- 

 pealing? No, they are not! 



Each year my lune business gets 

 better and better. Why? Because 

 I don't have routine sales on my 

 flowers and shrubs. Yes — I do have 

 sales, but I don't liquidate my 

 plants. I wait on the annual-pacs 

 until it gets hot and 1 have to wa- 

 ter them more than twice a day — 

 then my sale is simple: buy ten; 

 get five free. 



^LIQUIDATING YOUR 



PLANT MATERIAL IN JUNE 



IS BAD BUSINESS 



ALL THE WAY AROUND. 



I hate empty benches. I keep 

 all my benches in the retail area 

 full. Customers don't think I'm 

 done for the season; I try to im- 

 press them with masses of color so 

 they'll be sure to tell friends what 

 they saw. 



When it gets hot and watering is 

 a problem, we push jumbo annuals 

 in 6 1/2- and 8-inch pots and as 

 many heat-tolerant hanging baskets 

 as we can get. You'd be surprised 

 what will sell in June and |uly if it 

 looks good and is in flower. There 

 are plenty of impatient people out 

 there who want the largest plant in 

 the shortest amount of time and 

 we sell lots of one-, two-, and 

 three-gallon perennials. (Most of 

 these take only one watering a 

 day.) 



We also have a dozen whiskey 

 barrels cut in half and filled with 

 plants set up around the sales 

 area. These get customers excited 

 about doing something in their own 

 yards. 



With this recession, a lot of 

 people won't chance a May frost, 

 but will wait until June before buy- 

 ing plants. If they know you're still 



carrying the material, they'll come 

 back when they're ready. If a cus- 

 tomer comes to my place in June 

 or July, you can rest assured he'll 

 have a few thousand to choose 

 from. 



Don't let the trade stores take 

 what's rightfully yours. You are a 

 Garden Center — make sure your 

 customers know this. Make sure 

 no matter what month it is, your 

 benches are full. It will take awhile 

 for your customers to learn that 

 material will be there, but once 

 they do that, they'll come to you 

 first. We have a lot of summer cus- 

 tomers who may, for example, be 

 planning a special event and want 

 colorful plants to brighten up their 

 deck or patio. 



Not a day goes by that I don't 

 hear something about the discount 

 stores. Don't just give your busi- 

 ness to these people. They're not 

 stupid — if you're willing to give it 

 to them, of course they'll take it. 

 But don't give up before you start. 

 Find your niche; do and grow 

 things they can't. Provide services 

 they don't offer. Make your busi- 

 ness look like it's going to be 

 around awhile. Paint your build- 

 ings — maybe with a bold new color; 

 build a new greenhouse or fix up 

 the old one. Give your customers 

 something to talk about — if things 

 change, customers will come more 

 often to see what's new. 



I know it's hard to break rules 

 from the old school, but it can be 

 done. Don't think sales stop after 

 Memorial Day because they always 

 have. Trends change; people 

 change — and if I can get my 63- 

 year-old Dad to use a fax machine 

 (those of you who know him know 

 that could be quite a task), you 

 can get your customers to buy 

 plants in the summer. ^ 



Bob is at Demers Nursery £- Garden 

 Center, 656 South Mammoth Road. 

 Manchester. NH 03103. He can be 

 reached at (603) 625-8298. 



APRIL /MAY 1994 



