Climb a different ladder

SF Gate has an article today titled, “What scares employees most?”. The answer? Making a mistake. Whats the result of this? This comment from the article say’s it all. “At my job, the ones who don't make mistakes are the ones who sit there and do nothing all day.”

Over at Today's Garden Center  Karli Petrovic explains, “Why I am not gardening (and no one else my age is either) ”.  It’s a story of Generation Y and what Karli sees as the reasons many in her age group don’t garden. What caught my eye was the quote, “As many Gen-Yer's will tell you, most of the flack we get for being lazy and selfish is simply not true. The majority of us (primarily those without trust funds) are working exceptionally hard to move up the corporate ladder. After shelling out for car payments, student loans, groceries and rent (and cheap wine, when going out is no longer an option), there is little to spend on home improvement.”

The corporate ladder? The corporate ladder often leads to working at places where, “the ones who don't make mistakes are the ones who sit there and do nothing all day.”  I hope generation Y doesn't fall into the “corporate ladder” trap.  Seems to me that if you really want to make a difference and change your world you have to avoid the “corporate ladder” at all costs. It use to lead up, but these days the ladder can just as quickly lead nowhere, or down. Climb your own ladder and don't be afraid to move it. That way you can reach the ripe fruit.

Bridging the generation gap

Watching a customer yesterday struggle to get out of their car reminded me of how precious our time here is.  In our rush to embrace new technology and the youth market I hope we don’t forget our older customers. It reminded me that the simplest things for you and me to do might very well be a struggle for others.  Our society can be measured by how we treat our elders. Do we look to them for wisdom, or shunt them off to the “old folk’s home”? We know the answer, and it's not good. So much is changing and for older folks it can be quite frightening. While you or I may say we want to “embrace change” often it’s our way of being “brave”. Author Bruce Sterling put it best in his closing remarks at Reboot 11, “Dark Euphoria is what the twenty-teens feels like. Things are just falling apart, you can’t believe the possibilities, it’s like anything is possible, but you never realized you’re going to have to dread it so much. It’s like a leap into the unknown. You’re falling toward earth at nine hundred kilometres an hour and then you realize there’s no earth there.”

As the societal ground shifts beneath our feet keep in mind the older folks who may be looking for something to hang their hopes on. The garden provides continuity and hope for us all, and is a place where young and old can come together. With the decline in garden clubs it’s an opportunity to create new clubs filled with hope and fun. This is where the local garden center can become involved. Create your own garden club and invite old and young alike to join. While garden clubs have always been places to learn from one another, they are also community building.

It’s difficult these days to get everyone in one room, at one time anymore. That’s where social media can be a benefit. It can provide a way for people to “meet” virtually. If you’re older, less tech savvy membership is confused by social media; maybe you could hold classes on how to use it. Teach people how to use these new tools. Show them how it can foster community even while sitting at home looking at a screen. Once you have built your “club” his way, it will be easier to gather people up physically for meetings and events.

This post was inspired by this drawing. It’s by author and illustrator, Maira Kalman and reminded me of a customer we had the other day. Every time someone of a certain age walks through your door keep this picture in mind. It helps keep things in perspective.

The indispensable garden center

The closest hydroponic shop to us is selling plants now. They are also touting the “local”, as in “your local garden center”. Fortunately for us, they don’t know what they are doing, but the trend is clear. Here in California the hydroponic market is beginning the great unwinding we predicted. Also as predicted, the forward thinking garden centers are starting to capture some of the formally exclusive hydroponic market, which includes the coveted “non-gardening” younger generations. You see, they are super enthusiastic about gardening, but on their own terms. Don’t patronize or talk down to these customers. They just want to know the “why” and “how” and “where from” more so than our older customers.

Today a trade magazine representative asked how we feel about our future as a garden center. The future is as bright as it can be in these uncertain times. In this particular northern California location my customer base is likely 50% under 30 years of age. So we have an interested younger group of potential long term customers. The separation of the hydro business and conventional garden centers is blurring, allowing us a larger customer base who just want to “grow their own”. Growing organically is huge and getting bigger. This is perfect for separating our business from the chemically heavy competition of box stores. They don’t carry three types of bat guano, brew their own compost tea, or sell “veganic” nutrients. The uncertainty in the economy, especially here in northern California continues to drive people to grow their own.

The challenges we face in the future should not be discounted. Yet, on this first day of summer I feel like some of what we have discussed and implemented over the last few years is paying off. Stay small, accessible, and enthusiastic. Drop lines and companies that don’t work. Carry stuff the competition doesn't, and be able to explain why it’s better. Go organic, and encourage your customers to do so by having what they need to accomplish it. I foresee a time when the local garden supply store may very well take its place once again as an indispensable part of the community. Be bold, and remember “small is cool”.

Exciting times in gardening

I have been remiss in cultivating this blog, and thank a long time reader for reminding me to do just that. We have been busy at the nursery with a spring not dominated by cold and rain, like last year. The weather has cooperated and people continue to buy edibles like there is no tomorrow. I enjoy the edible crowd as they have put a lot of effort into their garden, and they will do what's right to keep it productive. When you hear that generation x or y are not into gardening, check the source. No sign of that here. My customer base is at least 50% under 30 years of age. They are excited about growing the stuff they consume and want to patronize local business, if you have what they want. They don't want synthetics! Get your organic groove on, because they want to know how to do it all! I disagree with those who say we are not in the job of education. I think that's exactly what is needed, and what we should do. Teach a person how to garden...

Small is cool! After thirty years in this biz I can say, keep it small and keep your cool! It's so easy when everything is riding on your decisions to work yourself to exhaustion. If it feels like it's getting out of control, slow down. Take the time to focus on the person in front of you at the moment. That's what it's all about. Not saying we don't need to "make hay while the sun shines", but we can only do so much.

There is no better time for the smaller garden business. Being small means you can react to changes that come faster and faster every day. Being small means you can excel at your craft, and command the price for your work that you need to stay in business. The future of garden bio-diversity rests in the hands of gardeners, and small garden businesses.

How great it is to be alive when so much is changing. In the garden trades we get to help guide people in their efforts to live better.It's a trade that is perfectly suited for the world we live in. Did I say these we're exciting times?

Know Your Local Garden Pro

We had a new neighbor and customer come in yesterday all jazzed about growing their first vegetable garden. It seemed she was thankful to find someone to talk with about the local conditions. It seems that while The Internet has all the answers, it’s almost impossible to find the right answer for the right geographic location. You get info from all over the world, how do you narrow it down? Many if not most new gardeners would love to have someone local they can ask questions of. If you just moved to a new area, or are gardening for the first time the best advice you might receive is, “Know your local garden pro”

In some communities it might be the local Master Gardeners, garden club members, or neighbor that take on the role of "Garden Pro". In most places however it can, and should be the local well run garden center. They are the ones who deal day in and day out with the peculiarities and advantages of where you garden.  Here in the foothills and mountains of The Sierra we have folks all the time who see plants for sale way too early down in the Sacramento Valley, or our local box store. It falls to us, the "Local Garden Pro" to explain why they should wait to put those tomatoes in until May. Some don't like to hear that, and plant too early. After a year or two of disappointment, they finally realize we we're right.

We deal daily with younger people just starting out with their gardening. They have all the savvy and knowledge to look this stuff up on The Internet. I sense they are also looking for a trusted adviser to bounce ideas off. “Hey Trey, I just saw tomatoes for sale down in Folsom. Can we plant them here now?” The answer will save them time, money, and a huge amount of frustration. That’s where the locally owned garden center can really shine. What we said about The Internet is true in the neighborhood. Honesty and trust will, in the long run, trump the quick buck. The solution? Get to "know your local garden pro".

Are You a Member of Generation Flux?

Rarely do I buy magazines. However the latest issue of Fast Company caught my eye. The cover story is "This Is Generation Flux, Meet The Pioneers Of The New (And Chaotic) Frontier Of Businesses". According to the article, "the future of business is pure chaos. Here's how you can survive--and perhaps even thrive." We read interviews from various people who are managing to survive and thrive in the new business climate.

The nursery trade is obsessed with how to appeal to a younger demographic. What's cool about  Generation Flux is it's not age based, like Generation X, Y, or "The Baby Boomers". You can be any age, and be a member of Generation Flux.  It's not just about the fast changing business climate, but the whole changing at the speed of light world we find ourselves in.  You can be 20 or 60, and still be a member of this inclusive generation. Generation Flux ties together differing generations, while labels like Generation X are exclusive to someone born during that period.

I am growing weary of the supposed divides between differing generations. We are all trying to feel our way through this new world, older and younger together. What binds us is a willingness to accept the challenges, and change when necessary. Sure, it can be harder for the older members of this tribe to make those changes, but try they must. Easy or hard, change is coming and how you respond is what matters, not your age.  Welcome to Generation Flux.

Quit trying to please me!

Over at Garden Center Magazine they are talking trends in the garden center world. I enjoy reading this stuff whether I agree or not. It helps open your mind, and think about stuff beyond today. At the same time I hate trend reports!  Is that weird? My feeling has always been to start the trends, don't follow them.  So I find myself interested, yet jaded and skeptical. Turns out I am not alone.

Read the side bar at the Garden Center article titled, "Gen X customers demand a genuine retail experience".  I read a quote from a Gen. X on a Facebook post the other day. They said, "In this season of new-found 'political correctness', I am completely offended and infuriated by your attempts not to offend me. Therefore, I'll be boycotting as many of you as possible."

Until our trade quits obsessing over trying to "be cool", we'll never be cool. Quit trying to please me, and instead perform your craft or trade with the best of your ability.  That's cool.

Even more relevant now

With this blog I have tried to look to the future of the locally owned independent garden center. In January 2008 I wrote a post that is even more relevant today. "Organic vegetable and fruit gardening will lead the way"

"What with the concern over the younger generations seeming lack of interest in gardening this prediction would seem out of the blue, but I think vegetable and fruit gardening is going to become quite fashionable over the upcoming years. Vegetable gardening would seem the obvious area of interest in gardening for most people, including the younger generations. It’s will just take the right series of circumstances for it to go viral.

The interest in organic food would seem to indicate that organic is likely to go mainstream, if it hasn’t already. The next step from buying organic would be growing organic. In the not so distant future it will be a source of pride to have a dinner party with organically grown food from the garden. What with the interest in eating local food, you can’t get any more local than that. 'Those delicious squash we’re organically grown, BY ME!'”

So you have two big trends that will work toward the resurgence of vegetable gardening, the organic movement and the 'buy and eat local' movement. There is another movement, the 'slow food movement', which advocates eating our meals slower and savoring the flavors of the food and enjoying the company of friends. Its more about the process than the end result, food in our stomachs. In addition to the slow food movement there is the whole eating healthier movement which means eating more fruit and vegetables. As people realize that home grown tastes better they will have more reason to grow their own since you can extract he greatest flavor from home grown.

There is also the self-sufficiency idea of vegetable gardening which is quite empowering once experienced. 'I can grow my own food' is a big draw for many people who feel they have lost the ability to fend for themselves. It empowers. I am not talking survivalist thinking but more like someone that installs solar panels so they don’t feel be-holden to the utilities. Its liberating.

From the interest in growing vegetables will flow an interest in gardening in general. Once people realize that they can change the world by growing their own food they will gain an interest in landscaping the yard. They will find that by planting this or growing that they can impact peoples emotions. It will become fashionable to have areas in the garden that are designed to affect how we feel and react. Meditation areas, inspiration areas, energy areas, calming areas, play areas, romantic areas, etc.

I feel we are on the verge of a whole new renaissance in growing our own food. Not just for survival, but for the aesthetic, social and physiological benefits that growing our own food organically brings. When it’s all said and done, it will be the outstanding flavor and pride that comes with growing your own that will really get people on the bandwagon. Until you have tasted the difference between a home grown tomato and store bought one you wont understand."

January 2008

In the post I mentioned how, "It’s will just take the right series of circumstances for it to go viral." We have seen the right set of circumstance arise since then. The economy and food safety have driven even more people into the grow your own movement. One year earlier in 2007 we we're being told the latest greatest trend was, DIFM (Do it for me). That trend's not so relevent now.

Are we boring our customers to death?

We're boring our customers to death according to Lloyd Traven of Peace Tree Farm, an organic greenhouse business

located in Kintnersville, PA. In an article at The Doylestown-Buckingham-New Briton Patch Lloyd say's, "we've stopped asking 'what's new?' We've stopped presenting 'new' to the garden centers. But here's the problem. The consumer didn't. The consumer is saying to themselves, 'What's new?' the answer is, not much. It's all the same stuff."

This is the elephant in the room. With the recession, and customers changing habits, many garden centers have turned to tried an true plants and goods. No one seem's to want to take a chance on new plants or ideas for fear that they will not be accepted by a more frugal customer. Lloyd say's, "'so if it's all the same stuff, at every garden center they go to, they might buy something, but they might not. That means that there is no loyalty, no relationship, nothing that makes that customer want or need to come back.'"

Excitement doesn't have to just come from the type of plant's you carry, but can include other gardening goods you have as well as the way you run your business. Garden centers that show customers new way's of doing things also create excitement. This year at our garden center we are setting up a hydroponic display growing tomatoes outside. Most people associate hydroponics with growing stuff indoors, yet it's the perfect setup for a person wanting to grow tomatoes or other vegies outside under the sun. It's a hobby that shout's repeat business, and is exciting and new enough to keep retired engineers and young gen Y people interested.

Excitement also comes straight from the people who work at the garden center. If the nursery people at your store are not excited about gardening and sharing that excitement, then you have a problem. Exciting people are a must. Just having a degree in horticulture won't cut it in retail. More important is to have an attitude of  joy and enthusiasm for the most basic gardening tasks. Remember, for most people it's their first attempt at a garden and they need an enthusiastic coach. Someone who causes them to want to come back time and again to get a dose of enthusiasm and hope.

Where does one go to meet with other's in the trade who "get it", and want to make a difference? If your an employee or owner of a locally owned garden center or nursery, and want to hang with the most innovative and forward thinking people in the trade head over to our Facebook group, "Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries" and ask for membership. This is the place where the future of the independent garden center or nursery is being worked out. Want a seat on the bus to the future? Go here to find out more.

Guess who is not coming to your flower show

I wanted to post the following comment left at my blog post, "Adapt or die" It's from Chad, a self-described generation x who say's he is passionate about gardening.  His comment explains why he won't be visiting any flower shows any time soon. If you would like, substitute the terms "garden center" or "nursery" for "flower show." We keep hearing about how generation x and y are not into gardening. They must not be interested in gardening because they are not coming into our garden centers or flower shows.  New's flash! They are interested in gardening and getting dirty, they are just not coming into your garden center, or flower show.

Here is his comment:

"I don’t own a small business and I don’t work in this field. I don’t attend flower shows either. But I wanted to respond anyway.

I am a Generation X customer who is passionate about gardening and that includes growing some of my own food, composting, general landscaping, and collecting cultivars that intrigue me.

In spite of my passion, I can’t convince myself to put up with the hassle of fighting traffic and paying to park, wandering around a fluorescently-lit convention center for a few hours only to leave empty handed and disspirited because I couldn't find anything that I wanted to buy or could afford.

My flower show is the Internet. On the Internet I can learn about plants, I can stop and pause to think about how those plants might fit into my plan, and I can choose just the plants I want. And the blogging/discussion forum communities fulfill a lot of my desire to rub elbows with like-minded individuals so I don’t even feel as much need to go and physically rub elbows with other gardeners.

I’m not opposed to going to a flower show, but what’s the draw compared to what I can experience online?"

There you go, the future of gardening is talking to anyone who will listen. Chad is not necessarily buying stuff online, he is researching and being entertained online. He likely would come into your store if he knew you existed (online), and you gave him a compelling reason to check you out. It may seem as if this a generational thing yet I can totally relate to Chad, and I am not a generation X. It may seem to be a generational thing, but it's starting to look more like a lifestyle thing.

Social Media is the New Village Square

While at the ANLA Clinic in Louisville a thought occurred to me. The younger generation get's social media and seem's wired to be involved. It's guy's and gals in my age group (go ahead and guess) that may feel a bit overwhelmed. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube, etc. Which one do I use? Do I need all of them? Is one better than the other? I just don't know what to say? I am not suppose to sell or advertise on there? Why am I doing this? Maybe it would help to think of social media as the modern day version of the village square.We use to meet on Main St., or the village square and talk with our neighbors, and fellow business people. Well, the village square in most communities no longer exists. People hang inside and don't get out to socialize in person much. Yes, it's a shame. There are lot's of things that are gone, and we are poorer for it. It's just they way it is and wishing it wasn't won't do any good.

Social media is the electronic village square. What do I talk about? Whatever you would have said to the butcher, baker, or candlestick maker in the old village square. People want to connect, not be sold a bill of goods. Pick one of the social media platforms and work with it for awhile. Like Twitter? Stick with it for a time, and if you decide to try another platform you will feel more comfortable.  You don't have to do all of them at first. You wouldn't go running into the village square and start yelling at the top of your lungs at everyone.  Start slow and get known by the other villagers. Ask how their day is going. Ask that bakery when they are making more of those delicious muffins. Mention the stuff your grandkids are doing. Just don't go running through the village square yelling about your "buy 2 get the third free" sale. Nobody like's to be yelled at. By just getting to know people you show you care about the community. They know your the "village nursery person". When the time comes for them to get gardening stuff they will remember you, and the fact that you weren't always trying to sell them something.

Gardening Trends

We in the garden center trade are under intense pressure by media and experts to follow trends. They say the way to success is to look at what the mass of people are doing. Selling organic products from your store is now trendy because everyone is into it. When you have Wal-mart selling organics, Scotts putting out a line of organics, and the media types all telling how organic they are you know it's a trend.

I think the trend towards organics is great! As a business person we sell lots of organics and the more people are aware of them the better sales will be. Of course the list of places where you will be buying organics will be increasing so to stay ahead of the curve we in the garden business will do like we have always done. Offer a better product, packaged more thoughtfully, and backed with better information on how to use.

The problem with following trends is everybody else is doing it. To stay ahead as an independent small garden center you have to create the trends. The hard part of that is that its lonely creating trends, and most of the time you don't know you are doing it. Sometimes you're the first to notice the very beginnings of an upcoming trend and can ride the wave. Most of the time you're just doing what makes sense to you but it takes awhile for the consumer and especially the industry to notice.

Garden centers selling organics is nothing new. John Dromgoole, owner of The Natural Gardener Nursery in Austin, TX has been involved with organic gardening for thirty years. He has been teaching and selling organics before it was trendy. You can hear him speak at the upcoming Independent Garden Center show in Chicago. He must think it's great to have so much interest now in what he has been doing for so long. Still he must wonder why there is so much excitement in the garden center industry now. Where has everyone been? The time to have gotten involved with this and reaped the greater profits was years ago. Sure there is room for the organic market to grow but the competition is getting a lot tighter. Now that Scott's and Wal-mart has recognized the importance it's going to be everywhere. We are about to be bombarded with an advertising campaign that will try to incorporate every eco-catch phrase possible. Organic, ecological, natural, eco-friendly, and earth friendly seem to be the most popular now. I think we'll be The Home of Eco-Friendly Gardening.

The secret to success as an independent is to not follow the money but rather have the money follow you. If you follow the big money it leads to large corporations who leave nothing to chance and only move a certain direction when they are very certain of a result. By the time they are certain this trend will be profitable for them the real trend setters have already moved in a different direction. The real trend setters might not know the direction they are moving. An aversion to following trends will lead them to a niche that they might enjoy for awhile, before everyone else figures it out. Real change takes place on the fringes, not in the middle.

What's the next trend going to be? I don't know. Most likely it's getting started by someone who is passionate about what they do and willing to buck the trends and set their own course. Following trends is safe but boring, bucking the trends and creating your own style is scary but ultimately more rewarding.