Two years after a nearby gas explosion destroyed the store in Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem, Urban Garden Center had a four-alarm fire that disrupted a popular train route, and the garden retailer is now dealing with an angry community.
It’s been a roller coaster of a spring. Three garden retail consultants, who remain in close touch with more than a hundred garden stores collectively, report on what their clients are experiencing.
Planning on attending Cultivate’16 in July? We’ve tracked down the things you’ll want to do, from catching a screening of the documentary “Gangster Gardener” to checking out the new cultivars at The Ohio State University’s trial gardens.
Cool, wet conditions followed an early spring across much of North America. But customers didn’t seem to care as much, and year-over-year sales are enjoying a significant boost, retailers are reporting.
Consultant Ian Baldwin has noticed panicked looks on millennial faces while they shop for plants. They have bought into the concept of outdoor fun with the kids or healthy home-grown food, but matching the dream with reality is another matter.
SNA is hosting a new summer show, SE Green, in Athens, GA. It mixes a conference for Southeast-based landscapers, growers, and retailers, with exhibitors.
Petal Pushers Farm in Laconia, NH, suffered a two-alarm fire two weeks prior to Mother’s Day Weekend. It is already back up and running, but is scrambling to replace its losses.
Customers coming to your store this weekend expect long lines, crowded aisles, and other annoyances. If you step up and wow them this weekend with great service, you’ll have a winning formula: low expectations + high traffic + amazing service = lots of new and repeat customers.
Sally Gill talks about how owning up to a terrible mistake, even when others share responsibility, is not only the right thing to do, it also makes long-term business sense.
