Inspiring garden centers and outdoor living retailers

August 25th, 2010

This was my first visit to the IGC Show in Chicago - the 4th Annual Show was impressive

I had a great gathering of "indie" retailers for this presentation.

After presenting to a welcoming audience at last week’s Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago, I’m more convinced than ever that there is a huge passion and vitality among the “indies” of horticulture. 

These are the women and men who adore plants, love to share their knowledge about growing things, don’t mind getting dirt under their nails, and who understand that connecting with other gardeners is what it’s all about. 

If you can run a business like that, well, then you are blessed. I’m not saying it’s easy. These are hard-working plantswomen and men; some of them are from longtime nursery families who grew up growing and selling plants. Others come to garden center life through different paths. But people find their way. And in the face of competition from big box retailers, the “indies” are almost as threatened as small-town booksellers (Although I just read an article in New York magazine about the return of independent book stores.) From what I saw last week, with the aisles of Chicago’s Navy Pier teeming with thousands of trade showgoers, I’m convinced the “indie” garden center and outdoor living retailer is a force to be reckoned with. 

My talk highlighted some of the successful participants in this movement. I promised to post an excerpt of this talk and some highlights here for my audience members to read. I”m also interested in comments and suggestions for other “indies” who are doing things right in their own community. Please let me know where you gain inspiration and make a “connection” with the local garden center in your community. I really do want to know! 

INSPIRING GARDEN CENTERS AND OUTDOOR LIVING RETAILERS are . . . 

Style-makers & Trend-setters: 

Masterful Merchandisers: 

Consumer Connectors: 

There isn’t space (or time) for me to post all 107 images from my talk, but I wil go through each of the above points and feature one or two examples. At the bottom of the talk will be the names and links of all the garden centers and outdoor living retailers I’ve included in the lecture. 

Melding interior and exterior design.

Above: Pot-ted Store in Los Angeles created a hipsterish outdoor textile line of their own using color-blocking and an interior palette. 

Combining plant sales with home and garden merchandise.

Above: Swansons Nursery in Seattle sells $200 Fermob French café chairs among perennials and meadow plants, color coordinated for a stylish presentation. 

Taking a curatorial approach to plants, art and accessories.

Above: Botanik in Summerland/Santa Barbara presents wall pottery and plants as a gallery-like installation. 

Spotting trends and finding ways to express them visually.

Above: Flora Grubb Nursery in San Francisco planted this dazzling wall tapestry of succulents and sedums, and as a result, it became the hottest editorial “green wall” image around. 

Travel, scout and research - get out of the store!

 Above: Gillian Mathews of Ravenna Gardens in Seattle hits local flea markets and antique shows for “found objects” that inspire merchandise displays, products and the unique, one-of-a-kind vibe of her store.  

Set a stage with texture themes, color-blocks and vibrant vignettes

Above: Simple yet effective, this edible-themed display at the Atlanta Botanic Garden caught my eye. These are unrelated products but they tell a story when displayed together. 

Chicks, hens, exotic poultry . . . take many forms from figures to books to artwork.

Above:  Here’s another example of what I mean, from Swanson’s Nursery in Seattle – a Poultry-themed vignette. 

Be a storyteller and build a narrative around your customer and her (his) lifestyle.

Above: Who wouldn’t want to be submerged in a tub filled with spring flowering bulbs? It’s a romantic notion – one that expresses this idea perfectly. I discovered this display at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in 2010. 

Involve your customers as co-designers and co-creators of their own plant projects.

Above: Rolling Greens Nursery in Los Angeles has an interactive “Arrangement Bar” where customers can sit on stools and collaborate with staff in a theatre-like experience to create their own floral designs and container plantings. 

Give everyday basics - even bags of compost - a special twist.

Alternate colorful rows of salad greens for a pleasing edible display.

 Above: At Living in the Garden in Pullman, Wash., bags of compost are displayed in a pretty-in-pink outhouse. At Sperling Nursery in Calabasas, Calif., red and green lettuces are used in an alternating pattern. 

"Luxe" items are portrayed in an accessible way.

Hand-built pottery designed especially to contain a nursery's cactus collection.

Above: The tiny porcelain vases by Idaho artist Farmer Julie are arranged on a bed of turf; the one-of-a-kind vessels by Arizona artist Mike Kon are displayed with the cactuses and succulents for which they are intended. 

Make it fun to be a "regular" for adults and kids alike.

Atlanta Botanical Garden's "Highballs and Hydrangeas" are a big after-hours draw on a weekly basis.

Above: A happy shopper enjoys Bowood Farms in St. Louis, while grown-up garden lovers attend and return to Atlanta Botanical Garden’s fun summer soirees. 

Create moments that invite lingering, like Terrain's cafe in the greenhouse.

 Above: Encourage customers to “make a day of it” and combine shopping with social destination. . . the ultimate one-day getaway for stressed consumers in search of sanctuary.  

Garden-themed food classes at ABG are among the successful community-building programs.

Become a Third-Place with programs and events that create community, such as these cooking classes at Atlanta Botanical Garden.

 Above: Culinary events, as well as music, art, health/wellness-oriented activities involve customers in your own “community” of gardeners. 

Become a venue for activities and events. Support your customers' interests and causes.

Above: At Flora Grubb, this Mother’s Day hands-on floral design course was a huge hit with customers wanting to learn new techniques in a sustainable way. 

The Bottom Line:

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do ~ Rumi

Garden Centers featured:

Atlanta Botanical Garden Shop

Botanik

Bowood Farms

California Cactus Center

Flora Grubb Gardens

Inner Gardens

Laguna Nursery

Living in the Garden

Pot-ted Store

Rolling Greens Nursery

Ravenna Gardens

Sprout Home

Swanson’s Nursery

Terrain at Styers

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Creativity, Gardening, General, Plants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.