Hines to buy Bordiers?

According to to commenter Les, "It seems Hines will acquire Bordier's and lock up their position as the primary source for the Home Depot. With Color Spots' take over of El Modeno, that leaves two major players running just about everything at the big boxes. How long before one absorbs the other?" This was bound to happen. The management team that Hines has gone with is the same management team that was at the helm at Bordier's during their bankruptcy. Funny how such large corporations make one bad decision after the another.

Happy New Year!

What can one person do?

No matter where you stand on climate change it's quite obvious that climate talks in Copenhagen will end in failure. Depending on which side of the argument you are on, that's either a great or terrible thing. So many people want BIG things to happen. Trillions spent here, trillions spent there. Flying to Copenhagen in private jets and limousines our leaders seem to be floundering. The answer is not in spending more money or attending useless meetings, but in taking control of our lives. The world we live in is in a transformational time, and it seems everything we use to know no longer applies. We could talk politics or other subjects, but my blog is about gardening and the business of gardening. What can we do to make a better world, and keep our businesses thriving?

It's as simple as planting a tree! The old saying is true. The best time to have planted a tree was ten years ago, the second best time is now. It seems that the garden business has a unique opportunity to change the world and change how the world sees us. When everything seems to be collapsing, the simple act of planting a tree is life affirming. Those of us in the garden world should be driving home this point. Let's quit talking about how the consumer just want's to decorate the yard. Instead lets talk about how our customers can empower themselves to change their world now.

Fruit tree planting season is upon us here in northern California. I can think of no better way to take control of your life, than the act of planting a home food garden.  Using modern techniques like Home Orchard Culture we can grow all, or most of the fruit we need to live. Later on when the vegetable season arrives we an continue planting, so that the majority of food we consume is safe, nutritious, delicious, and from our own backyards. Add the fun hobby of indoor growing along with hydroponics, and we can feed ourselves without depending on the supermarket. It's possible. Take a look at what one nursery in the UK is doing. Otter Farm, according to it's web site is, "the UK's only climate change farm - where we've planting olives, peaches, pecans, persimmons, apricots, szechuan pepper, vines and much more." I love it. The climate is changing, so let's take advantage and improve our lives.

We would encourage garden centers to focus like a laser beam on becoming the source for sustainable lifestyle choices.  Somehow the greenest business around, you local garden center is missing out. Maybe too much attention on trying to attract people who just want to decorate their yard, or worrying about dumbing things down for Generation Y. We need to quit listening to marketing experts, and instead listen to our own hearts. It seems to be a lack of communication by the nursery industry. We should trumpet who we are and what we are about.

In the past the bare root fruit tree season was just a prelude to the rush of spring. Our customers are sitting at home wondering what they can do during the winter. We need to make sure we communicate the hopeful message we have. That there is no more hopeful, life affirming action than planting a fruit tree.

Good grief!

Someone felt the need for a Christmas Tree and chose a Keteleeria, a rare Asian conifer growing at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle. The trees value is estimated at $10,000. Those of us who are into plants know the value is much higher! Considering the tree is not that attractive a Christmas tree, perhaps it was cut down by someone with a grudge? Even good ol' Charlie Brown would know better.

I think we can all agree what kind of Christmas those who cut it down have.

The gathering of gardening news, and poor English

I use site meter to find out why people end up at this blog. I am interested in the number of people who came by. After a mention by a popular blog or a big news story it is fun to watch your traffic spike. Never the less I realize my blog will never have the number of visitors that other sites have. That's o.k. since I beleive that it's not just the number of people who show up, but the quality of people who read this blog that's important. What the site meter tells that's important to me are the search words used.  Often just before important news breaks I often find people using the same search words to arrive at the site. Sometimes the word, "financial troubles"appears before or after the name of the company folks have questions about. I found out about Bordier's, El Modeno, and Hines Nursery bankruptcy from the search words used by visitors.

These days lot's of people have been prefacing their search of various large and small companies with, "financial troubles". One reason that they end up at this site is it is one of the only places that has discussed these companies before the fall. Google Hines nursery, Bordier's Nursery,  El Modeno Gardens, or Smith and Hawken, and up pops this site.

This seems the way news comes to the surface these days. Citizen journalism.  Web sites that depend on readers to bring the news to them. In the past news outlets sent reporters out to gather the news. Now everyone is a reporter, even if they don't know it. As a news gatherer I do feel a sense of responsibility not to announce what companies are showing up at this time. Big names and maybe just rumors, so it's best not to feed the rumor mill.

An additional note. For some reason I had not not  moderated comments on a number of past posts. We have been without power for the last few days because of heavy snow. If you posted a comment and it did not appear, I apologize. One comment was from Joe, who said about my post on social media, " If you really want to write a blog please use proper spelling and grammar! Here is what you wrote: Just a few years ago we we’re told that nurseries really should not worry about or bother with social media, we are now told that your a dinosaur if you don’t. This is the way it should be: Just a few years ago we were told that nurseries really should not worry about or bother with social media; we are now told that you’re a dinosaur if you don’t."

Joe is right! I disliked English in school, and as such it shows in my writing. I always thought it was more important to get the info out, and worry about spelling and grammar later. Since plenty of my visitors understand the English language better than myself, I will try and do a better job. As for Joe, proper spelling and grammar are not requirements for writing a blog. Anyone can write a blog, and I encourage you to write one concerning proper English spelling and grammar. Please continue commenting here on my use of spelling and grammar. I did try to follow the link for your name to find out who you are. Unfortunately, your name led to "server not found". Joe, if your are going to comment at a blog and leave a link for your name, be sure it leads to somewhere besides "server not found". That's the way it should be.

Hines Nurseries has an uphill battle

In the past we have talked about Hines Nurseries, at one time the largest nursery in the country. I was checking out GreenhouseGrower.com when I came upon a discussion started in April 13th of this year, concerning the new management team at Hines. If you remember, Hines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last year. "The Blogging Nurseryman" was the only source of information on what was happening at Hines pre-bankruptcy at the time. My post and the comments were made in August 10th 2007, long before the most knew the bankruptcy was coming. The greenhousegrower.com post is an interesting read. If the mood of the anonymous commentator's are any indication, Hines has a long way to go to regain the trust of it's former suppliers and customers.  The post also includes a quote from Mike Trebing, senior vice president of sales and marketing. According to greenhousegrower.com Mike say's "'As a company we are returning to our core values and business philosophies which the company has been built upon over the last 90 years,' Trebing says. 'As an outcome of the bankruptcy, Hines has emerged with one of the cleanest balance sheets in the nursery business.  During these challenging economic times, that flexibility will help Hines rebuild its operations and inventory.'"

I love this comment from anonymous, "Unbelievable, this guy is bragging about having one of the cleanest balance sheets in the industry. Wouldn't we all like to have all our debt just disappear? However, this is at a horrendous cost to suppliers who were just discarded. Are these same suppliers going to do business with them? Experience?? Why should this team, whom all come from companies that they helped bankrupt--Bordiers, Hines, and Powell be expected to do anything different? They can continue doing the same things that bankrupt their respective companies now that their debt load is gone."

Wow!

The future of bookselling

I always thought it would be fun being a book store owner. I have always loved book stores, books, and the whole vibe that goes with wondering through the store. Of course I grew up in an era before the internet. There is a post today at Boing-Boing by Cory Doctorow concerning the future of book selling. In many way's it mirrors the changes going through the plant selling businesses. I always thought that bookstores and garden centers we're under the same challenges. Now I think bookstores have even more challenges before them.

A mash-up of gardening personalities.

The great thing about social media and small business is it allows those of us in small business to reach the right people. After all, social media is about being social, and smaller business tends to pull that off better than larger businesses. The very nature of small business is making a connection on a smaller scale. I have never seen such a great opportunity for us to connect not only with the customer, but also with others who can help us with our goals. Most of us in small business use social media in an attempt to find and keep new customers. It's also important as a tool for finding like minded people who can help, but may never be a customer. There are now enough garden centers on line and on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn that an informal network of small and medium garden centers is forming. Got a question about what days to be open or if bulb sales are doing well? Just ask. We use to have to wait until traditional garden business media came out with the results of last years sales. While those same traditional media outlets have gone online and now dispense information much quicker, I find going straight to fellow owners and managers  the best.

Even better than small businesses connecting, we are seeing a mash-up of garden related professionals and amateurs. Garden writers, television and radio personalities, as well as passionate amateur gardeners. Each of these people have the ability to add to the conversation. What happens when your small business has it's own international cadre of experts ready to help?

According to Wikipedia , "LinkedIn is a business oriented social networking site. LinkedIn has more than 50 million users worldwide, of which approximately half are in the United States. 11 million are from Europe. With 3 million users, India is the fastest-growing country as of 2009. The Netherlands has the highest adoption rate per capita, outside of the United States, at 30%." I decided to search LinkedIn for garden related groups and was amazed to see that our group, "Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media" has one of the largest memberships, at 590. It also boast the most robust discussions of any other group.

One of the secrets of the group is you don't have to be in the garden center or nursery businesses. There are garden writers, bloggers, media personalities, and members of allied organizations. The members are just like you. They see the power of connecting with like minded individuals and groups using the power of new media. If your interested in joining the conversation head here.

Social media highlights your social skills, or lack of.

I just received the latest issue of a trade magazine where many of the articles deal with various trade shows and events that go on from time to time. My how things have changed over just the last year! Each and every show had seminars held by nursery consultants who have jumped on the social media bandwagon. Just a few years ago we we're told that nurseries really should not worry about or bother with social media, we are now told that your a dinosaur if you don't. Remember that social media highlights your businesses social skills, or lack of. No amount of social media will cover the fact that when I walk in your store you still can't remember my name. Doug Green has an interesting post titled, "Social Media for Garden Centers".  Doug say's the most powerful social media we have is, "'face-to-face' and it works pretty simply (no power cords, no software, no computers) by looking somebody in the eye, calling them by name and giving them the answer they need." He continues, "Want to improve your social media? Take a memory course and learn more of your customer names (heck, never mind 'learn them' – you want to remember them, you want to be able to recall details of your top customers). You spend a ton of bucks on other software – go get an upgrade for yourself."

Social media  is a great way to introduce people to your particular business, but if you lack interpersonal skills it's all for naught. While at Borders Books in Folsom I found myself engrossed in a book, bothering no one. One of their "overly friendly" greeters walked up and interrupted my reading by asking, "if I was finding everything o.k.?" I wasn't walking around looking confused, I had found something just fine all by myself. A lack of face-to-face social skills trumps anything done online. All the money spent by Borders on their social media outreach undone by a well meaning, yet socially awkward moment. I wonder with the advent of all the social media some people are loosing their face-to-face skills?

Narcissus instead of daffodils?

We have all the bulbs at the nursery for half price. Another lousy bulb season, exasperated by poor decisions by the bulb company. For some odd reason they decided to re-label all the daffodils as narcissus. So we get in packages of daffodil bulbs and they come labeled as narcissus. No mention of the word daffodil on the package. So what happens all bulb season? "Do you have Daffodils, I don't want narcissus." Each and every time they asked we would have to explain that narcissus was the botanical classification for daffodils. What a waste of time.

After all the discussions we and others in the trade have had about keeping it simple for the customer, and not over using the Latin names for plants, the bulb companies do the exact opposite. I cannot even imagine the reasoning behind this. As poor as bulb sales have been, and are likely to remain, changes like this can really eat into sales. Why couldn't they just call them Daffodil "Ice Follies." What was the reasoning behind changing the name from daffodil to narcissus? Yes, I know they are actually narcissus, but it's not me they need to market to. Do my customers care that officially daffodils are narcissus? Of course not.

No wonder bulb companies are going out of business, and bulb sales continue to decline. Every year that we have to sell the bulbs at a discount is one year closer we get to not carrying bulbs at all. Well, we will always sell some daffodils since the deer don't eat them. Now if I could only find some daffodils to sell. Narcissus for years has meant "Paperwhites" and other small flowering daffodils. That's what the customer expects.

Lying to make a sale?

In case you don't think the indie nursery business has enough to contend with these days, your not going to like this post  over at Doug Green's  Blog. The post titled, "Six White Lies Garden Centers Tell Customers", lists the various lies that garden centers tell their customers to make a sale. Perhaps in Doug's corner of the world the lies listed are commonplace. I made a comment at the post concerning my feeling on the subject, so there is no reason to go over them here. The more important point in my opinion is apparently this is a belief that is held by others. Read the first comment by Dwayne who says, "True, very true. Of course, if they told the truth they wouldn’t make a sale."

Doug is a garden writer who has a following of gardeners who look upon him as an expert. I really don't have a problem with Doug "telling it like it is", in his part of the country. I have heard this before from others in various areas that don't have quality garden centers. Having done business in Nor Cal for so long it's easy to forget that there are places where the box stores are the best game in town. What a pity, yet it's better to have a good garden center, whether it be box stores or indies.

Read Doug's post entitled, "Big Box Stores versus Independent Garden Centers" for even more good news.

Doug's post paints too broad a picture of the indie garden center business. Not all garden centers lie to make a sale.

The customer as garden center consultant

Small business has worked on the assumption that if business is good, then whatever we are doing to earn that business is the correct thing. I would have to agree with that analogy. People do vote with their wallets. In the past some business would put out "suggestion cards" or what not, trying to solicit customer feedback. Now we have social media where, if we do it right, our customers become friends and tell us quite willingly what we should be doing at our businesses. I also love how small garden centers are coming up with ideas to stay viable and flourish. From cafes in the stores, to workshops, special events etc. I received a Facebook comment from one of our customers, Leonard. He commented on this picture of the schoolhouse from Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds" I had taken on a trip with Monica. Just idol chatter on an interesting picture. So today I get an e-mail from Leonard which said, "Just wanted to through something out to you. When you commented back about Bodega Bay and the movie 'The Birds' a thought came to mind. I know you and your wife are very busy people, but you throw wonderful events at the Nursery. I was thinking what would it be like if you incorporated a movie night into your evening garden event. An old classic like Casa Blanca, Gone with the Wind or an old Walt Disney movie for a family night. I don't know if you know of Iron Stone Winery in Murphys, Ca. They have the old Alhambra Theatre pipe organ and they do silent movies once and a while. Just an idea."

What a fantastic idea. Seems I had read about something like this being done at another garden center somewhere. Does anyone else know of this type of thing being done in other businesses? Who would have though that a winery would do this? Good wineries are always coming up with ideas to  make their places an "event". Like garden centers they have off seasons, and need innovative fun ways to keep their fans interested.The idea is to foster community. People are desperate for activities outside the home that they can enjoy that doesn't cost a bunch. Now I realize that wineries are hoping to sell a little wine while people watch the movie. How this translates to the garden center, I don't know. It just tickled my interest, and that what's really important.

By the way, the schoolhouse in located not in Bodega Bay, the location of the movie. It's in the town of Bodega, a few miles inland from Bodega Bay. Every time I see this picture the tune the children we're singing in the movie comes to mind.

I married my wife In the month of June, Risseldy, rosseldy, Mow, mow, mow, I carried her off In a silver spoon, Risseldy, Rosseldy, Hey bambassity, Nickety, nackety, Retrical quality, Willowby, wallowby, Mow, mow, mow.

If you can't remember the tune, it's at the beginning of this re-done trailer. Follow it to YouTube.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RKOLFxxq5E[/youtube]

Thanks Leonard!

Garden writing, and garden centers

Just five years ago garden writers, and the garden center business we're generally unaware of each others presence.  That's changed, thanks to blogs and Facebook. Among my friends on Facebook many are garden authors, whom just five years ago I wouldn't have known about. This cross pollination is exactly what the garden center business and garden writing business need. The smaller garden centers never had the money to buy advertising or eyeballs in the old media. That was left for the Big Boys, who had the money to get the attention of garden magazines and television shows. That has now been completely turned on it's head. Many garden authors who once worked for major publications now find themselves self-employed. With the internet they have been free to publish what interests them, and not the advertisers. For most, publishing an article on the web does not bring in the money that once was there for those working the major publications. Never the less, the hunger to write continues, and many garden authors now write exclusively for their own web page.

Both the garden center and garden writing businesses are in a state of great change. I think the garden writing business is in even more flux. Just who is a garden author? Anyone writing a garden blog or publishing on the internet, that's who. Not that every one writing a garden blog knows what interesting writing is.  The cream rises to the top, and as such the crowd soon steers it's eyeballs that direction. Once that happens a lot of the interaction that goes on is at social media sites, like Facebook. The blog becomes less important, and the daily interactions that take place are followed on Twitter and the like.  It makes writing a blog more challenging, as so much of the information that was once reserved for the blog is now dispersed via social sites.

A well written blog is still a joy to read. It seems to be the place that receives the most thought, and therefore better writing. I still check the blog feeds first, but head over to Facebook and Twitter for the behind the scenes look. It's these places that have the most benefit for the garden center. It allows more interaction between the store and the"fans". It allows people to 'fan you' without having to comment at the blog. If the fans have something to say outside the subject at hand they can. This is a boon for the small garden center. Fans (customers) are the best way to spread the word. We always knew that good customers where our best form of advertising. Friends telling friends. It's just that now some of our customers have hundreds of friends!

College student + dorm room + garden = future customer

The headline, "College student finds creative outlet in dorm room garden", got my attention. Gee, I wonder what he is up to? Well it turns out Matt Lehman, " has two tomato plants, beans and a cucumber plant doing quite nicely under the artificial lamps he has installed above the 1-by-3-foot wooden box he built." According to The Baltimore Sun, "he is already eating tomatoes. The beans have blossoms. And the cucumber seedling sprouted..." The article continues, "the reaction of his dormitory neighbors has been positive - sort of. 'After we get past the part where they ask me if I am growing marijuana, they say either, 'Wow. Cool.' Or 'You're a nut.' " We talked about hydroponics and indoor growing before. Most of my readers find it to be a bit to esoteric or tainted by illegal activity to be a serious concern in the garden center world. I don't think it is something for most garden centers to be involved in. A lot like water gardening, it takes a comitment of time and resources to make it a profitable venture. It's is still a niche market in the garden center world. A whole industry arose to meet demand while the garden center industry looked the other way. Oh well, that's just what happened with organic gardening back in the 70's. Something that the hippies we're doing and not worth getting involved in. Now it's all the rage, with garden centers asking the "experts" how to sell "green". What I find interesting is the market is filled with young, and middle aged males. Not exactly your typical garden center customer. It would seem that they are into gardening, but they are spending their time and money in hydroponic shops located in warehouses.

This is not an area for most garden centers to be involved in. We decided to pursue it because my customers we're indicating a need for it. I just like looking into the future when it comes to the small garden center trade. It seems we are often caught up in the way business was done in the past, that we don't see the future staring us in the face. That's why I beleive the future for the small garden center is good. Younger people, who have no pre-conceived notions as to how garden centers "should" be run, will propel our industry for years to come. It seem that, "wow cool" and "your a nut" are often synonymous with the future.

Thanks to Sid Raisch for pointing me to the Baltimore Sun article.

It's True!

My question from yesterday has been answered. Greenhouse Grower Magazine confirms that Color Spot Nurseries has purchased El Modeno Gardens Nursery. According to Greenhouse Grower, "El Modeno Gardens will close its doors after Oct. 31 and Color Spot Nurseries is purchasing the operation’s equipment, raw materials and inventory."

It's interesting how the nursery industry is fragmenting. I think once wholesale nurseries decide which "industry" they want to service, the better off they will be. It becomes harder and harder to supply both the chain stores and the independents. You have to focus on one or the other. I think we are going to see even more medium sized nurseries get gobbled up by bigger players, or go out of business.

This is a unique time in the nursery business. No one really know what the playing field will look like in the near future. Everything is up in the air, and the winds are ripe with possibilities.

Color Spot, El Modeno, and the box stores

I have been hearing rumors that Color Spot has bought El Modeno Gardens Nursery. If it is true, Color Spot is emerging as the number one supplier of plant goods for the chain stores in the west and southwest. By purchasing El Modeno, Color Spot moves into the shrub and tree category along with their bedding plant business. This all makes sense to Home Depot and the other chains. By having one supplier for all their plant needs, they can work together to make sure the right plants are grown and shipped to the right stores. When you get as big as the box stores you want to make sure your supplier network is on the same page as you are.

What's to happen to other smaller companies that have decided to service the box stores will remain to be seen. I would be a bit concerned with this development if I we're one of these companies. What happens when Color Spot can sell that juniper to The Depot at a price lower than what you can? Another rumor is companies wanting to service the box stores with plants will have to sell their product through Color Spot first?

The trend seems to be clear. Box stores will have fewer, but larger suppliers of plants and fertilizers. I would have to guess that Scotts and Color Spot have the bulk of the garden business from these chains.  This does not bode well for the myriad of smaller wholesale nurseries who are sitting on a mountain of unsold plants this year.

My guess as to how this will shake out is you have two different horticultural industries. One larger, with the likes of Home Depot, Lowes, Wal Mart, Costco, and others buying from just a few of the largest growers and suppliers like Color Spot, and Scotts. The second horticultural industry is everyone that is left. Smaller and medium sized outfits trying to find their way in the plant world. I believe we will see a lot of these businesses going out of business this year.

While the advantage to the big boys is clear, there is a disadvantage to having only one supplier for a particular category. Remember the late blight this last year? It cost Bonnie Plants millions in sales when infected plants we're found at the box stores, whether the blight originated at their greenhouses or not. So with the power size brings, the downside is equally powerful.

Does anyone have more information on Color Spot buying El Modeno Gardens?