Combos By City
February 16, 2010 
Hort Couture has developed a unique program for combo planters called East 1, 2, 3 that offers growers three plants in one plan. Combos are named after cities like Austin, Baltimore and Chicago to simplify ordering for growers. CEO Jim Monroe discusses the new program.
Is “Easy 1, 2, 3” the first official combos program Hort Couture has designed?
Yes, we see esoteric ideas from other brands in pictures but this gives direct info on good combinations. Our mantra is “branding made simple,” and this program will help growers execute good combos on a consistent basis with consistent guidelines. They just order the combo name from the broker and C. Raker & Sons ships them everything.
Where did the idea to market by city originate?
Actually, from our Greenbrier Nurseries side. We do combos such as Beckley, Roanoke, White Sulphur Springs and Bluefield for local towns in West Virginia and Virginia where we’re located. It has worked for us and we have seen customers coming in saying, “I need three Lewisburgs for my front porch.
The overall idea of names really relates to consistency of information. Whether it is a retailer trying to reorder a certain basket from a wholesaler or a consumer coming in to purchase the basket they were successful with the year before, the concept of our “Cities of Fashion” program is good.
Do you anticipate having more success with Los Angeles around Los Angeles and Miami around Miami? Or, do you anticipate varying levels of success with the combos targeted for each respective city?
We see an opportunity to connect the sales in an area to possible charity donation opportunities and other ideas like that. As an example, a New Orleans basket might have given a donation to hurricane relief a few years back. We could even have a basket combo on a national level that could serve such a purpose. We feel it gives the local grower something to talk about and market.
Anything else noteworthy about the marketing approach by city?
We see that this gives the independent something that works and is practical. We also feel we can work with organizations, such as America in Bloom, to help cater combos to certain areas and maybe even provide funding through the sales to support such programs. It has so many tie-ins, and probably some good ones we have yet to think of.
Learn more about the program at HortCouturePlants.com.
Subscribe to eNewsletter
