The Plantsman 



From the Board 



Garden Center University, Class of 2006 



Beth and Rick Simpson, Rolling Green Nursery 



When I asked Rick, "What was 

 the most important and best 

 things you took from Garden 

 Center University?" Rick's an- 

 swer surprised me: "The formulas and 

 being able to measure what we do." 

 His answer is the essence of what 

 we learned. But the networking, the 

 friendships, Ian Baldwin's expertise 

 and the field trips to the different busi- 

 nesses and garden centers were what 

 came to mind for me. 



Garden Center University, through 

 ANLA is a 5-session, three year com- 

 mitment. It is scheduled to meet in 

 January and July, making it easy to 

 attend. The first session starts in Louis- 

 ville, KY. This event begins just prior to 

 the ANLA 3 day Management Clinic. If 

 you haven't heard about the Manage- 

 ment Clinic, it is a fantastic learning 

 and networking experience. It is defi- 

 nitely on our list of must-do learning 

 events. Access to the clinic is easy via 

 the Manchester Airport. 



The first session (January) of the 

 GCU focused on: Business strategies 

 and identifying goals- what makes a 

 garden center a Super League store. 

 Numbers and formulas that help a 

 company track performance, Trends, 

 Human skills. Your retail team and 

 training that pays, and Silent service - 

 traffic flow, signage and effective POP. 



Session Two (July), held in San 

 Diego, was an in-depth analysis of 



Beth and Rick Simpson at riglit along will) other classniates 



spring. We reviewed the formulas 

 for profitability and budgeting. The 

 hardgood analysis of what products 

 outside the plant category are doing 

 well was fascinating. With classmates 

 from California, Idaho, Indiana, 

 Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, 

 Pennsylvania & Ohio we got a good 

 picture of what similar retailers were 

 doing. The companies represented 

 ran the gamut of grossing $300,000 

 to $75 Million (7 stores). Our field 

 trip to an Armstrong's Garden Cen- 

 ter in Encinitas (one of 36 employee 

 owned stores) and to Roger's Gardens 

 in Orange County were an interesting 

 contrast. Armstrong's puts out a glossy 



magazine highlighting their plants and 

 brands of products in their stores. It 

 captures the California Lifestyle pretty 

 effectively. That particular Armstrong's 

 backs up to the Flower Fields ranun- 

 culus fields and has an impressive 

 AARS trial and display rose garden. 

 Roger's Gardens has one location, and 

 does 5% of their gross, or 1 million 

 dollars in ready- to- go mixed contain- 

 ers, starting at $14.95 to $400.00. 

 They also have seating to accommo- 

 date their 52 weekend educational 

 seminars. When we visited, their 4th 

 quarter was their most profitable with 

 Christopher Radko ornaments being a 

 very hot product. 



April/May 2006 



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