Out here in nor Cal it seems that 2010 will be a lot like 2009 when it comes to what people will be buying in the garden center. My guess is fruit trees and other edibles will lead the way with ornamental shrubs and trees lagging. If the economy is improving elsewhere it sure hasn't shown up here. I do beleive people are getting use to the way things are. Not as much panic as last year, but a resignation that this year won't see much change from last year. We will focus again this year on being the place where people can purchase stuff for sustainability in their gardens and lives. The interest in growing your own is strong. Fruit trees, fruiting bushes, and vegetables will lead the way. The stuff we use to maintain these things will also be strong. Sales of soil conditioner's and fertilizers we're way up last year and should be again this year. That's good, as sales of five gallon and larger ornamental shrubs and trees was way down last year. Sustainability is in, ornamentation is out in our area.
I like the trend. We want to be a resource for people who want to take control or their lives and live better. It seems the shop locally trend is starting to take hold. We may get involved in selling canning supplies this year. Monica and I are still enjoying food we canned last year. We beleive that canning your harvest is becoming fashionable. It makes sense for us to show people how to preserve the very fruit we sold them earlier.
Thought I would mention Target buying the Smith and Hawken brand. I think Target has a better chance of making it work than Scott's Miracle-Gro did. That being said I find it a big yawn. Smith and Hawken started out, much like Ben and Jerry's Ice cream. A business with a passion. Once Ben and Jerry's was bought by Unilever it lost it's cache. Same with Smith and Hawken and Scott's Miracle-Gro. The passion is gone and it's now just a commodity taking up some aisle space at your local Target.