How Sam Bridge Nursery Made Its Store More Efficient For Both Its Staff And Customers
September 10, 2015 Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses in Greenwich, Conn., went through some drastic changes this past year, opening brand-new retail space for its customers. The garden center built a new Nexus greenhouse complete with a new store, a new retail area, new growing range, a new potting area and more.
Many of the changes were designed to improve efficiency in several areas, including energy use, water conservation and traffic flow.
Maggie Bridge, manager of sales and marketing at Sam Bridge and a third-generation family member involved in the business, recently answered several questions about why the renovations were made, how successful they’ve been and more changes on the horizon.
Why did you decide to make these renovations?
We did so primarily because of the third generation that is now involved in the family business. It’s time to grow our business again so we can feed all the families, so to speak. At the same time, we were also experiencing growing pains that most businesses face when they outgrow their facilities. The business originally started with a very small space that was added onto over the years in a piece-meal style. This created bottlenecks, dead space and an overall lack of efficiency. Our plastic-covered gutter-connected greenhouses, where the new facility now sits, were also due for an overhaul. We could have kept it the same and just updated parts here and there, but none of our issues would have been solved.
Sam Bridge prior to the renovations
What were some of the biggest changes that took place?
The biggest changes were to the actual facility itself and to the processes involved in day-to-day operations. Whether it’s the way you walk to the potting area or your workflow at the cash register, everything has changed. In the retail areas, we have less cut-throughs than we did before because we are controlling our traffic flow. For the staff, this means things might take a little longer; for the customer, the overall shopping experience is better and more immersive. This year has been full of trials, errors and learning opportunities. Every day we make another change, and will continue to do so.
How have things become more efficient at the store?
Efficiency has improved immensely. In our old facility, we had a tiny potting area that was set up for anything but efficiency. In our new space, the potting area is much larger, and we were able to set it up so everyone and everything has a place. We can have a team working with the pot filler and at the same time people can be working at the potting benches, all while staying out of each other’s way. It’s wonderful!
Our rainwater collection tank, located under the floor of our new shipping area, has allowed us to cut down on the use of our wells. It only takes one inch of rain for the 25,000-gallon tank to fill. If we are watering heavily, say right now, in the dead of summer, the rainwater tank can last us up to two weeks.
The radiant heat in the floor has cut energy costs in the winter as well. We do have some supplemental heaters, but do not have to use them very often. The open roof and side vents on the greenhouse have created a much cooler and more pleasant shopping/working environment. In the old space, temperatures could reach well into the 100s during the summer. Now, we are within about 5 degrees of the outside temperature.
The size of our new store has helped, as well. Last Christmas was our first experience selling out of our new space. During Christmas 2013, we were operating out of our old store in our barn, which is much smaller. Due to the fact we were in the middle of tearing down our facility to make way for the new construction, we had to put our pop-up Christmas Shop (originally located in the greenhouse) into the barn. In such a small space, we had merchandise coming out of every corner, every little nook and cranny. In the new store we actually had room to display everything properly. Christmas sales alone were up by about 30 percent.
Sam Bridge after the renovations
What was the feedback from your customers this year?
Customer feedback has been great. The community has been really supportive and excited about our new space. We held a big “Grand Re-Opening Weekend” to kick off the spring season this past April. We invited Michael Dirr to come and speak about hydrangeas and viburnums, and we also had an evening cocktail party to launch the weekend. We had an amazing turnout, probably about 200 people at each event, which is really great for us in regards to typical event turnout.
After tough weather conditions made for a difficult spring, how has the rest of the year gone?
April was a tough month. We had snow all the way up until the end of the month, and there was lots of rain as well. Despite losing the month of April, we are happy to say that retail sales are up by 20 percent, and we are on track to continue and hopefully increase that number by the end of the year.
What were some of the biggest lessons you learned as you went through the renovations at Sam Bridge?
The biggest lesson would probably be to allow yourself enough time for the renovation. Originally we were hoping to be done in about four to six months. In reality, the whole project took more like 12 months. We had to go through an entire spring and summer with the whole place torn apart. Our annuals department consisted of three different locations. But you handle what life throws at you and you make it work. I think having to spend a whole season under construction made the staff and our customers appreciate the new facility even more. Finishing the project felt that much sweeter.
Any more changes on the horizon?
There are lots more changes on the horizon! Judy Sharpton gave us lots of great advice to manage our traffic flow. We’ve already started moving benches and hutches in our store again. We will be installing a few hanging basket walls and possibly changing our register setup. By the end of September we will have a brand-new POS system. We are currently in the process of switching to Counterpoint. We are also changing up our marketing for next year to include more online campaigns and will be incorporating more video. We just redesigned our website and continue to improve it as time goes on. One of the really cool, tough, exciting, frustrating, awesome things about business, especially in this industry, is that everything is always changing, moving and evolving. It’s our job to stay ahead of it.
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