Montgomery’s New York Retail Report
I visited 57 retail garden centers in New York City and Long Island from June 4-8 to determine the performance of these garden centers and their vendors. The weather for the most part was ideal, except when it rained all day June 5.
The weather was ideal for the weekend and the traffic in the garden centers was heavy, with many consumers still buying lots of vegetables. The other items that seemed to be selling well were annual packs, annual flats–1801, 2401 and 3201–as well as 10-inch basic and premium hanging baskets.
The breakdown of the stores visited is as follows:
– Home Depot 29 (14 Ivy Acres, 15 Weiss)
–Lowe’s 9
–Walmart 10
–Kmart 3
–Costco 2
–Sam’s Club 2
–Independent garden centers 2
Home Depot
Home Depot, of course, is the most dominant retailer in lawn and garden in this area because of its store density. There are three Home Depots for every Lowe’s. Home Depot is also the clear leader in the New York City and Long Island markets in overall shopping experience. And it appears Home Depot has made significant improvements in product quality and merchandising since Spring 2008.
Ivy Acres is one of Home Depot’s most outstanding suppliers with great product quality that always has lots of color and the right size plants for the container they’re produced in.
Ivy Acres has shown some innovative leadership with the development of the Straw Pot, an environmentally friendly container that is used for bedding plants and vegetables. Ivy Acres is now producing Knock Out roses in the eco-friendly container. It’s one of the best merchandisers, understanding how to utilize the end caps and aprons for maximize impact.
Ivy Acres offered some of the most consistent hanging baskets in 10-inch basic and 11-inch premium that I’ve seen at Home Depots around the country.
Lowe’s
Lowe’s did not have the color impact seen at Home Depot, especially in the hanging basket category. Lowe’s had some interesting programs with the Color of Coleus, Yellow Petunia and Colors of Caladiums, all produced in a 1-gallon colored container. The retailer still uses the Garden Club Select brand as its main vehicle for premium annuals, but I did see limited quantities of Proven Winners and large quantities of Wave in three different sizes and price points.
Walmart
Staying with its basic strategy of “less is more” focusing on the basics and eliminating the “cute stuff” has led to more orderly stores and a simplified shopping experience. In this area, it seems as though Walmart’s traffic was much lower in the garden centers versus other markets I visited this year.
Kmart
Kmart offered a limited portfolio of items that was mostly merchandised outside the garden center on the sidewalks and aprons. I visited the Kmart stores on Monday morning, and it appeared as though there was little product movement over the weekend. It seems as though there is not enough traffic to support the sales velocity necessary to create enough scale that is necessary for the green goods sector.
Costco (Westbury, N.Y.)
Costco had a nice selection of items that provided some reasonable consumer values:
– Ten 4-inch premium annuals retailing at $24.99
–Two 8-inch perennials retailing at $15.99
–12-inch coco hanging basket retailing at $17.99
–10-inch tomato cages retailing at $12.59
–12-inch patio pots retailing at $15.99
Costco (Commack, N.Y.)
– Six 6-inch basic annuals retailing at $16.99, more than the same products at Home Depot
–Three 306 annuals retailing at $14.99
–16-inch patio pots retailing at $29.99
–Two 8-inch perennials retailing at $15.99
–12-inch patio squares retailing at $15.99
Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club had huge displays outside the store featuring three annual items that were not overly impressive
– 10-inch basic hanging baskets retailing at $6.36
–Three 4.5-inch annuals premium retailing at $10.26
–Flats of 606 annuals retailing at $9.88
Martin Viette Nurseries (East Norwich, N.Y.)
This independent garden center is an established family business catering to the upper-income crowd. It has a following of long-time loyal customers.
In the annuals category, Martin Viette offered a limited selection of sizes and varieties. Geraniums were all Oglevee genetics.
The bedding plants were of reasonable quality but not the kind of “wow” products you come to expect from independent retailers. It is a perfect example of customers who are more interested in the shopping experience versus the perfect product. Annuals were priced at a premium.
This is a garden center were you can find almost anything for the garden and patio with a huge inventory of upscale containers and very expensive patio furniture. You will never find a better shopping experience at a garden center anywhere–at least among the places I’ve visited.
Bayport Flower Houses (Bayport, N.Y.)
Bayport is another great family-owned business that is long established and has a very loyal following with many customers whom I saw store employees calling by name. The retailer offers impeccable service and a huge selection of nursery plants, but not an overwhelming offering of annuals. It has a nice selection, but actually less SKUs than the home centers.
This is another place for a great shopping experience. If you want personal attention this is the place.
Summary
Home Depot was very impressive both in New York City and Long Island, exhibiting great product quality, outstanding merchandising and a well-rounded portfolio of products. Clearly, Ivy Acres is a well-managed vendor that specializes in great execution and must realize there is a lot more to success than growing good plants.
Products that appeared to be the fastest selling were packs, flats of annuals, hanging baskets under $20 and, of course, vegetables. The interesting thing about vegetables is when a consumer buys vegetables: The associated hard goods sales jump significantly. Items that seem to benefit from vegetable tie-in sales are bagged soil, cow manure, fertilizers, tomato cages, fertilizers and insecticides.
Stores Visited with Vendors | ||||
Retailer | Store No. | City | Annual Vendor | Perennial Vendor |
Home Depot | 6957 | Brooklyn | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1232 | Brooklyn | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1249 | Staten Island | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 6150 | Staten Island | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1281 | Staten Island | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1225 | East Elmhurst | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1285 | Long Island City | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 6152 | Brooklyn | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1225 | South Ozone Park | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1216 | Valley Stream | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1274 | Hempstead | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 8465 | Westbury | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1201 | East Meadows | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1213 | Jericho | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 8466 | Syosset | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1272 | Huntington | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1202 | Commack | Weiss | Weiss |
Retailer | Store No. | City | Annual Vendor | Perennial Vendor |
Home Depot | 6167 | Commack | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1285 | Deer Park | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1267 | Farmingdale | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1218 | Copiague | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1211 | Bay Shore | Weiss | Weiss |
Home Depot | 1222 | Riverhead | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1282 | Shirley | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 8958 | Bellport | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1258 | Patchogue | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1229 | Coram | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1209 | Selden | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Home Depot | 1265 | Setauket | Ivy Acres | Ivy Acres |
Retailer | Store No. | City | Annual Vendor | Perennial Vendor |
Lowe’s | 1658 | Staten Island | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 1624 | Garden City | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 2612 | Hicksville | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 2371 | Patchogue | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 1189 | Medford | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 2233 | Stony Brook | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 1674 | Brooklyn | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 1709 | Bayport | CK | Stacy’s |
Lowe’s | 1917 | Farmingdale | CK | Stacy’s |
Retailer | Store No. | City | Annual Vendor | Perennial Vendor |
Walmart | 3420 | Westbury | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 2916 | E. Meadows | No Plants | Garden State |
Walmart | 5293 | Valley Stream | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 5205 | Commack | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 2917 | Islandia | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 2906 | Riverhead | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 2286 | Centereach | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 5295 | Farmingdale | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 2156 | Middle Island | Garden State | Garden State |
Walmart | 2915 | E. Setauket | Garden State | Garden State |
Kmart | Riverhead | Weiss | Weiss | |
Kmart | Farmingville | Weiss | Weiss | |
Kmart | Bohemia | Weiss | Weiss | |
Costco | Westbury | N & O | N & O | |
Costco | Commack | N & O | N & O | |
Sam’s Club | 6674 | Elmsford | Grower Direct | na |
Sam’s Club | 6428 | Medford | Grower Direct | na |
Martin Viette | East Norwich | local | local | |
Bayport | Bayport | local | local |