An unforeseen side of plant branding?

Our last post concerned branded containers, and how they are being used by smaller growers in their production. Smaller growers recycle all sorts of containers. Proven winners, Monrovia, Flower Carpet, and other branded containers are re-planted with shrubs, perennials, and trees. So the customer buying a tree with Monrovia printed on the side could believe that the tree was grown by Monrovia. Does this concern the companies whose names are on the side of the containers? Does the customer feel they are buying a mis-represented plant? Does anyone care?

The Internet has taken advertising and turned it on its head. No longer is advertising a one way street where information is force fed to us. Now advertising includes responding to customer's conversations. It's done via customer's blogs, Facebook pages, or Tweets. Some companies are already doing this. Home Depot responded to this blog a year ago when we brought up the unkempt appearance of my local Home Depot. They are keeping an eye on what's being said about them. To their credit I noticed an improvement in the garden center section of store within a week or two. Was it just because of a blog post from a customer?

What are we suppose to do with these left over containers? I would appear it's o.k. for other growers to re-use these pots, planting whatever they like in them. This solution is the most green. Keep re-using the pot until it no longer works. I don't like the mish-mash appearance of branded container mixed in with the plain black ones, but it's not enough to keep me from re-using it. Still, I wonder about the companies that spend so much on branding their containers, only to find their name being used with all manner of vegetation. My guess is this was an unforeseen aspect of printing the companies name on the side. Unlike hang tags that can be re-moved from containers when your name is on the side it stays there forever.

Comments welcome

Once again the gremlins caused my last post to not accept comments. Thanks to Fred Hoffman for the heads up. Comments are always welcome. If you find one of my posts that says otherwise shoot me a quick e-mail. I have dispatched the gremlin responsible, and have initiated a "gremlin alert" here at headquarters. They will be shown no mercy!

Does this hurt or help the brand?

Drove down to a small grower the other day. This grower makes use of used cans for his nursery stock. Walking to a bed of Spirea all planted in black cans, a few we're planted in used Monrovia Nurseries distinctive branded green cans. You know the ones, with Monrovia's name printed proudly on the side. Does the re-use of branded containers, Proven Winners, Flower Carpet, etc., help or hinder the brand? What does it mean when the customer sees these branded containers with plants that are not from the nursery branded on the side?  I wonder whether this was something the companies branding these plants thought about?

This is a big deal. Lot's of money has been spent building the brand, and printing the name on the side of the containers. I love that we reuse nursery pots! I wonder what the customer thinks, or do they even care?

Plant branding, go big or stay small?

Great article on plant branding by Sarah Martinez at Garden Center Magazine.  Came upon some quotes I had made in the past. Do I still stand by what was said? Yes, especially about national plant brands. When they first came out I was impressed with brands like Monrovia putting their names on the containers. Now I am not so sure.  What do you think?

The great vegetable boom of 2008 and 2009 is over

An interesting article in The L.A. Times today. Titled, "After two years of eco-living what works and what doesn't". Written by Susan Carpenter she tells the story of "transforming my humble California bungalow into a test case for sustainable living — an experience that's cost me hundreds of hours of my time and thousands of dollars, an endeavor that has tested the limits of not only my checkbook but also my sanity." Susan say's there we're a number of things she is quite happy with.  Her gray water system has worked so well she is hiring a plumber to expand it. Solar panels and rain barrels come in second and third in her estimation of value for the buck. Some things she would do without include composting toilets and chickens, which we're a favorite food for the local raccoons. Included in things she could do without is "edible landscaping." That's LA  talk for a vegetable garden.

Susan say's, "If I had to do it over again: I would install one or two planter boxes. I'd buy the rest of my produce from a community-supported agriculture group such as Equitable Roots." Like many people when the economy started to tank a couple of years ago she, "...couldn't shake the fear that the American infrastructure was about to crumble and that I should start growing my own food. Thus began an incredibly long, expensive and back-breaking journey. Not only did I have soil that was high in lead, but I also had critters that liked to dig and destroy. Then there's the water issue. It takes a lot of the wet stuff to grow most fruit and vegetables."

Let's face it, that is going to be the story from a lot of people next year. Nurseries that have counted on the sales of edibles to help carry them through the downturn may not have that going forward.  Around here a miserable summer vegetable season has soured lot's of folks garden plans. I suspect that next year vegetable and related sales will not be as good as they we're a year or so ago. The people who have vegetable gardened in the past will likely continue. There will be some new people trying it out, but the massive rush we saw a couple of years ago is done. Susan sum's it up by saying, "...this is a project for people with time, money and a love of gardening and cooking. It isn't a job for single mothers with high-stress jobs who'd rather not spend their precious down time watering, pulling weeds and bringing in their harvest."

So what does this all mean to the horticulture business? I don't think we are going to see a uptick in ornamental gardening anytime soon. The money used in the past to fund landscaping is just not there. With a potential leveling off of edible gardening where is the growth going to come from? I don't see a lot of growth coming down the pike. That means a continuation of what we saw this year. Slow or no growth.

I believe there will always be a need for good garden centers.  Just not as many as we have now. There will be further shrinking of the industry. Wholesale and retail nursery closures will continue. Garden magazines and other media will continue to shrink. There was a lot of growth in the industry during the boom times, and now we are seeing a contraction of the industry as the new realities of the world we live in sink in. No counting on the avalanche of newbies we saw two years ago. Garden centers will have to go back to what's important, taking care our core constituents. As I have said in the past, "small is cool".

Extra: I just came from Doug Greens blog. Today's post is titled, "Vegetable Gardening Boom is Over." File that under, "Great Minds Think Alike" or "Old Fools Think Alike." Your Choice.

We're looking for crazy ideas and people here

As we watch our governments flail about trying to govern, we the people take care of business. It's like minded people gathering together that will make a difference in the future. Sure it's important to vote and have your say, but if you really want to make a difference then you have to do more. Just becoming involved can make the difference between feeling helpless or empowered. By taking action you set in motion events that will change things in your life and your world. In the horticultural world we can often seem like small cogs in a giant wheel that just keeps grinding away. Wholesale nurseries going out of business left and right. Chain store, and home store competition. People having less money to spend on our offerings, etc. If your like us, a small garden center, it's sometimes amazing we can traverse all the obstacles that seem to pop up.  It's comforting to know that our fellow garden business members are dealing with the same issues no mater where they reside in the world. It's nice to have a place where one can go and meet to discuss where we are, and where we want to go.

Anyone involved in new media will realize that it's not so much how many hits you get on your website, or how many friends you have on Facebook that's important. What's important is the quality of those friends, or hits. We want to know that our time and effort is appreciated by those we would call friends. We want honest feedback, not just platitudes. We want to connect with the people who "get it" and help us all become more successful in our efforts.

To that end we started a group a few years back called Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media at LinkedIn. From it's humble beginnings it has grown to over 960 members. These are 960 of the most forward thinking people in our field, and you can have access to their wisdom. More important, we want your feedback! Yea, I know you don't think like anyone else. Your ideas are just to crazy to be implemented. Your just a small player in a big industry. Wait, that sounds like me, and many in the group. If that sounds like you, then your just the person we are looking for. Join us by becoming a member of LinkedIn, and then joining our group here. Once you jump in you'll feel great.

Deja vu! Hines Nurseries file Ch.11 bankruptcy, again.

I checked the date a couple of times to make sure I wasn't reading a report from December '08.  It does say, October 7, 2010. According to Oregonlive.com Hines Nurseries will lay off "96 workers as early as Monday because of its inability to extend its line of credit." Oregonlive.com say's, "While the company seeks financing, it expects to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Sandra Runyon, vice president of human resources for the Irvine, Calif., based parent company, said in an Oct. 6 letter sent to government officials."

This is interesting. Hines say's, "Layoffs at its Forest Grove operation, 45296 S.W. Ritchey Road, will be necessary if the company is not able to obtain financing by that date...The company says it had not informed employees of this attempt 'as doing so would have hurt Hines' chances of extending the line of credit and its ability to obtain other financing and business. It would have also damaged Hines' relationships with its customers, which would have further damaged Hines ability to obtain financing and business.'" You don't say! As of August Hines stopped growing plants and flowers at it's Irvine headquarters, eliminating half of it's 160 workers.

I have a question for you involving Hines, Weeks Roses, and Iesli Nursery, all of which have filed bankruptcy protection these last couple of weeks.  While I and every nursery person hopes for the best, what signs do we have that people are going to loosen their purse strings any time soon? Are people next year going to start buying landscaping materials because the election is over, or the economy has suddenly improved? I hope I am wrong, but why do we feel that further financing is going to solve a fundamental problem. Landscaping is a luxury, and so many people are cutting back on luxuries these days. Until people have extra money to spend on plants, what is going to sustain these businesses?

Weeks Roses and Iseli Nursery's parent company in chapter 11 bankruptcy

Looks like the trickle down effect of the Jackson and Perkins Bankruptcy has drug the buyers of that company down with them. According to Today's Garden Center, both Weeks Roses and Iseli Nursery have declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Weeks roses is one of the largest wholesale rose growers in the U.S. Iseli Nursery produced some of the nicest plant stock we ever dealt with. The problem is people are just not buying ornamental plants in the volume they use to. As one of the members of our Independent Garden Center and Nurseries Facebook page said, " Kind of makes it a wake up call for independents to use smaller more efficient vendors. Seems like the big companies can't manage money very well."

Update: I received a call from Iseli Nursery. They want people to know that they are still in operation. It is a Chapter 11 reorganization and the day to day business is still operating. As we are learning these days there is a difference between the different types of bankruptcy. The representative from Iseli indicated the problem was with the holding company, International Garden Products, that bought Weeks and Iseli. Most important, if you like Iseli or Weeks, they are still in business and ready to service your needs.

One area we both agreed on was the huge mistake it was for horticultural business to get involved with Wall Street. As I have been saying at this blog since 2006, horticulture and Wall Street are just not a good match. The very nature of horticulture means unpredictable revenue based on weather and other variables. "The Street" want's steady returns, and horticulture is all about working with mother nature, and she doesn't always supply steady returns.

We're changing the horticultural world over here.

"Are websites becoming obsolete in favor of Facebook fan pages?" To find out the answer you will have to join our LinkedIn group, Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media. We now have over 930 members making it the second largest gathering of horticultural types in all of LinkedIn land. Anyone who has an interest in horticultural related businesses and the use of new media can join. That's the strength of the group. For the first time garden bloggers, horticultural media, nursery people, landscape professionals, consultants, and others from all over the world can share ideas in one place. From this mash up of people and ideas the future of gardening is forever being changed. Want to help? Check it out here.  

Owning a nursery ain't what it use to be

I hate to see anyone in the situation that Old Kim finds themselves in today. I received this comment at my last post. "Dooms Day in western Wa for independents. I’m a loser cause what I tally up at the end of the day is a red hit. Relied on credit card funds for ten years. Thought I could pay them off. Not at 20% interest what’s happening this year. Making a living off of plants is hard. Having a going out of business sale. Sales have increased ten times. Say La Vie. With my bad additude I am thinking like a loser. Am scared. A career at Walmalt. Health benifits maybe? It hurt’s so bad that if I didn’t have a kid I’d go living in the woods. I use to have a nursery. At the end of October it’s over. I’ve lost my identity."

If I told you that I had been there too it wouldn't help.  The world is a different place than it was just a few years ago. The pace of change is staggering, and lot's of people are being affected.

Garden centers around the world deal with the same issues.

It's interesting how the issues we deal with in the states are some of the same issues they deal with in Great Britain.  In the Gardeners World Blog from the BBC  the readers  say, "garden centres could do more to inspire their customers." What? British garden centers are not doing enough to inspire their customers? You have to be kidding? We are talking about Britain where everyone gardens. You would just assume that the garden centers there would be a gardeners paradise. It would appear that even the garden centers acknowledge, "that more could be done to boost inspiration. Plant quality is paramount, good advice essential, and better displays and interaction can entice gardeners to buy more." The "team" at The Gardeners World Blog say, "perhaps it’s time for the garden industry to pool their creative juices and bring their combined passion to life in new garden centre promotions. They have a tremendous opportunity to engage with their local community, enhancing and personalising the gardening experience – something that internet shopping sites can never do."

This is exactly why we created the Facebook Page, Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries. It's a place for garden centers and nurseries to "pool their creative juices and bring our combined passion to life." If you are a owner, manager, assistant manager, or other garden center worker you can join. It's open to all garden centers anywhere, since it seems we all have the same challenges and issues to deal with.

Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries

How can the small nursery businesses benefit from the proliferation of social media? Contacts are being made across borders between small businesses and their customers. This cross pollination has huge potential. There is also a cross pollination going on between garden centers. While we all know, or are learning the importance of social media between business and its customers, what I find interesting is the back and forth going on between nurseries and garden centers. A garden center owner starts a Facebook page and worries about what she should post. Another want's to know what it is about drive-by's, why the don't stop and come in, and even more important, does this happen to other garden centers? (yes, it does). What about that new vendor that just seems a little to good to be true. Anyone else dealt with them?There are all sorts of concerns and ideas that we could share.

At one time that cross pollination was done at social gatherings like nursery industry meetings. That’s still being done, but for a lot of smaller businesses it’s hard to always make those meetings. In addition we can now broaden our horizons to include fellow businesses many, many miles away.  That nursery in Ireland has a great idea that could be implemented right here. To that end I created a new Facebook page, Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries. I like Facebook and the way you can catch up on much of your social networking all on one site. Now you can discuss issues with other nursery people and no one else. Not because others don’t have important issues to discuss with independent nurseries, but as an owner, manager, assistant manager, or nurseryperson sometimes I just want to talk to others in my situation. While there are many allied businesses and people important to a successful operation, this is not the forum for that. If you are a member of those allied professions we have a group for that at LinkedIn. The group is called Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media and can be found here. The group has over 900 members and is growing. Stop by and see if you would like to get involved. We love, and cannot get along without our allies in the garden businesses, but this time it's just for nursery people. It is also just for independent garden centers and nurseries. No box stores, chain stores, member only warehouses, and those who service them.

If you want to meet with other garden center, and nursery professionals why not join our Facebook page here? Our discussions will be private, and only viewed by members. This could be the beginning of something great for your business, and mine.

Dont fight Scott's Miracle-Gro.

Over at Fine Gardening Billy Goodnick talks about how “Scott’s Miracle-Gro stole my ammo.” Billy say’s, “I also love taking pot shots at those who I perceive as bad guys, imagine my delight when I saw that the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was sponsoring breakfast at the annual Garden Writers Association symposium in Dallas last week. I mean these are the folks whose very existence has been built upon putting-green-perfect yards where weekend warriors get their NASCAR-meets-John-Deere jollies.

Billy was turned around by Scott’s sustainability representative, Jan Valentic who spoke at the breakfast. Billy continues, “it appears that the folks at Scotts Miracle-Gro have found a pragmatic, shareholder-friendly form of eco-religion. Consumers are becoming more enlightened and demanding products that are environmentally friendly. Unless Scotts wants to go the way of the wooly mammoth, they have to adapt. They're not leaders; they're followers, but they're moving toward the light and they have a huge market share, so this matters.”

Scott's jumped on the organic bandwagon. Here is the news. Organics’ are just not that big a deal with the younger generation. I am talking about 18 to 25 year old's that are just starting to garden. This generation seems to be a lot more focused on results and brands, than organics. If their friends say use Humboldt Nutrients for the best results, that’s what they do. It seems to be weekend gardeners and the older generations that are more into “organics”.  Besides, strange laws that regulate what is considered organic add to the confusion. A fertilizer with minerals like manganese or boron in it can not be called organic in California. They are called “naturals”. So if you buy “organic fertilizer” it will be missing many of the important nutrients that plants use. The younger generation is learning this and want's results, organic would be nice, but not critical.

As an independent nursery owner I want my store to be different than the local Home Depot. If we we’re to carry Scott’s we would have the same stuff as The Depot. We need to set ourselves apart so we can capture some of the market that the mega-companies can’t. We do that by carrying niche brands like Humboldt Nutrients, Foxfarm, Botanicare, etc. Haven’t heard of them? Ask a younger gardener. They like this stuff so much the will proudly wear tee-shirts with these companies logos on them. Yes, they will sport their knowledge and hipness by wearing fertilizer companies logo's. Would they wear a Scott’s tee-shirt? No, except maybe for the retro-mocking aspect.

This younger generation of gardeners is brand oriented. When they find a brand that works, or their friends have told them about, they stick with that brand. Don’t try to sell them something else. Scott’s is just not that cool. That does not mean Scott's won’t continue to dominate the lawn and garden category. It just means we independents have a niche that Home Depot and other mega chains don’t. It never fails, as soon as a trend like organics get's usurped by the big boys that trend starts to dry up. The younger generation does want safe, effective garden products. It just doesn't have to be labeled organic to meet that criteria. More important, is it a brand that has the good reputation amongst their peer group? The younger generation is very brand loyal, and that includes your nursery brand if it has what they want.

It's garden bloggers asking the tough questions

This last week has proven an idea I have had, and maybe you shared. There are two distinct horticultural industries. There are those who service the chains and box stores, and those who service the rest of us. We are not saying one is better than the other, but they are distinct.

What works for them may not be what works for us. When asked by a garden blogger at the IGC show about what nurseries should do with overgrown plants a representative from Proven Winners said, “IGC (Independent Garden Centers) should send the plant back to the wholesaler for potting up.”

Reading a comment at Garden Rant concerning this subject a commenter said, “The Home Depot's program is Pay-by-Scan but also is better described as Vendor Managed Inventory. The grower works closely with the Home Depot merchant/buyer in driving the business with the best varieties, highest quality and most competitive prices to beat their primary competition, Lowes, in offering the customer value and quality they will return for. If a grower is not up to the task, another grower steps up to assume this lucrative business. The model works for growers who can produce merchandise, replenish and water quality plants. Plants that loose their sales appeal are taken back to the nursery and rejuvenated or composted. In most of the country, The Home Depot has the best garden centers and their business continues to grow despite the economy. Where Home Depot's are located close to quality IGC's, both prosper and there is a need for both. I can assure you, quality is winning in Florida. Check our blog link below for more on this.”

Here is comment from nurseryperson Chris directly following the above, “Rick-went to your blog because your comment sounded so positive about Home Depot garden centers being the best. No wonder, you're one of their suppliers. Do you offer the same level of service to IGC's that you offer to HD, at the same pricing? Just wondering."

Thanks Chris, I and lot's of IGC's out there are wondering the same thing. Again, there is nothing wrong with what the box stores and their suppliers are doing. Just don't try and tell us that the playing field is level, or that IGC's have the same opportunities that box stores have with their vendors. Of course we don't. I could hear the laughter coming from IGC's all over the world when Proven Winners said, "send the plant back to the wholesaler for re-potting"

A new day is dawning! Thank Goodness we have garden blogger's out there asking the tough questions.

Like Chris and other IGC's everywhere, we are still wondering...

 

Is this true?

Barbara Pintozzii, a garden blogger from Chicago writes a blog titled, Mr. McGregor’s Daughter. She had a post today at Garden Rant titled, “A letter to independent garden center owners”. After attending the IGC (Independent Garden Center) show in Chicago a couple of weeks ago she say’s, “I want to make it clear right away, I love IGCs.  They're among my favorite places to visit on earth. I get a bit of a high while wandering through a great garden center. I have just one complaint, and it's a deal-breaker.  At the IGC show a couple weeks ago, Raymond Evison ignored the title of his ‘Five Trends from Chelsea’ presentation to assert that there was only one trend: quality.  I couldn't agree more.”

Barbara continues, “While the failure to pot up perennials and woody plants is understandable, the extra cost should be expended.  A pot-bound plant may take years to recover. I talked with representatives from companies that require their plant product to be sold in distinctive containers (branded plants).  One had no answer to my question of what an IGC should do if one of their plants needed to be moved to a larger container.  The other, Proven Winners, informed me that the IGC should send the plant back to the wholesaler for potting up.”

My fellow IGC’s, have you ever been told by Proven Winners or any other plant brand that we could send back overgrown annuals and perennials to the grower for potting up to a larger size? If you have, please let me know of this company as I would love to do business with them. Are you reimbursed for the cost of the plant, or given a replacement plant? I love the idea! If more brands and growers took some of the risk involved with selling at retail we could replace more overgrown and distressed plants with fresh stock. We know the chains and box stores get pay at scan treatment, why don’t we?