Closed on Saturday's!

Companies that go against the status quo and are successful fascinate me. In retail there are assumptions made that are considered untouchable if you want to be successful. In the garden center biz one assumption is that to capture the maximum number of shoppers you need to be open 7 days a week. If someone works all week then you have Saturday or Sunday to be open for them. If your closed they may very well head to the competition. A company I have watched before was highlighted today at gardencentermagazine.comBaker Creek Heirloom Seed is a Missouri company that specializes in hard to find heirloom seed.  I first found out about this company from  their fantastic seed catalog. According to their web page, "Jere Gettle always had a passion for growing things, and at age 3, he planted his first garden. Ever since that day, he wanted to be involved in the seed industry. So at the age of 17, he printed the first small Baker Creek Heir­loom Seed catalog in 1998. The company has grown to offer 1,400 varieties of vegetables, flowers and herbs—the largest selection of heirloom varieties in the U.S.A."

In 2009 they decided to open a seed store in, of all places Petaluma, California. They bought a 1920's bank building and started "The Seed Bank". Here in the heart of The Bay Area and uber-hipness the company brought in Amish workers in traditional clothing to renovate the building. The company wanted to create an old time feeling with their business. To really set the tone they did something that is out of ordinary in retail, yet wen't right along with their beliefs. They are closed on Saturday! They do it for religious reasons, so their is no questioning them about the loss of business they might experience because of this. It's just the way it is. Their hours of operation are M-F 9:30 to 5:30 pm closed Sat. and open Sunday's, 9:30 to 4:00.

You can do this if you have something that nobody else carries. They "offer over 1,200 varieties of heirloom seeds, garlic, tools, books, and hundreds of local hand-made gifts and food items. Remember—everything we offer is pure, natural, and non-GMO!" If you want to choose amongst the largest selection of non-GMO heirloom seed's in a retail store, this is it. You'll work around the Saturday closing. The moral of the story is, carry what people want in a way no one else is doing.

As the world continues to change faster than we can keep up, people enjoy looking back to the old day's when things seemed simpler. This new store touches all the right points. Old bank building, lots of seeds, no GMO, people who are passionate about what they do, give back to the community, and live a life devoted to something bigger than themselves. Something so big they close on the what is usually the busiest day in retail gardening. Does this make them happier? I would hope so.

Instead of getting burned out this year, what if you closed the store for a day during during the week? Even in spring? What if you cut your hours of operation? What if you reduced the size of the nursery to better highlight what you carry? What if you only carried products that you believed in? It's a interesting idea. Live closer to your own beliefs, yet still make the money needed to accomplish your goals? Is is possible? We will see.

Quit telling me what Generation X and Y want's!

Over the last few years the talk in the garden centers trades has been all about how to attract generations X and Y. They don't seem to want to garden and we need to learn how to communicate with them. Apparently the only people who can achieve this are fellow generation X and Y's. Anyone older than this just doesn't "get it". I was pointed to an article at  Socialtimes.com by Steve Cissel. It concerns how online marketers need to get ready for the Baby Boomers. Yup, right when you thought all you had to do was figure out the younger generations you now have to pay attention to the older generations. I love this paragraph from the article, "simply put, this is a terrifying thought for Gen X and Y marketers, who are more accustomed to talking to their own generations. The implications reach well past marketing, of course, to product development and user experience – not to mention the ol’ fashioned art of closing the deal (now called 'driving conversions')."

We have been talking about this here since 2007, which is why your here! Even back then we could see that, "wouldn’t a display aimed at Generation Y appeal to Baby Boomers looking for what’s new and hip. How about a display aimed at Baby Boomers that appeal to Gen Y that is looking for something they think of as retro? A modern, colorful, well thought out display should have good crossover appeal to every generation."

So now the article we read today say's Generation X and Y marketers are scared to death of this growing online demographic of Baby Boomer's.  Oh how the tables have turned. I have to laugh at the poor Gen X and Y marketers trying to figure out how to appeal and market to Baby Boomer's. Maybe what those firms need to do is hire Baby Boomer's to help with their marketing efforts. "Sorry, you application is great but your too young, we are looking for a older demographic that understands online marketing". Ouch!

That metal taste in my mouth is from pine nuts?

It started about a day ago and every time I eat the taste overpowers the taste of the food. It's a drag! I thought perhaps it was a sickness I was coming down with. When Monica said she also had this metal taste we assumed it was something we we're breathing, or eating. We Googled "metal taste in mouth", and up came several webpages devoted to this phenomenon.  After reading a number of web pages with various reasons for a metal taste, diabetes, cancer, iron deficiencies, etc., I came across this page. There between kidney disease and copper overdose was "pine nuts". Just a couple of days earlier Monica had bought a jar of pine nuts, which is a treat for us as we don't usually eat them. They are commonly used in pesto. The day after eating the nuts we started to have this metallic taste in our mouth. I looked up pine nut at Wikipedia and there was an entry on "Risks of eating pine nuts". According to Wikipedia, "A small minority of pine nuts cultivated in China can cause taste disturbances, lasting between few days to maximal a week after consumption. A bitter, metallic taste is described. Though unpleasant, there are no lasting effects. This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001. Some publications have made reference to this phenomenon as "pine mouth". The Nestle Research Centre has hypothesized that a particular species of Chinese pine nuts, Pinus armandii (Chinese Pine), is the cause of the problem. The suspect species of pine nuts are smaller, duller, and more rounded than typical pine nuts ." Fortunately the article continues with, "cases are self-limited and resolve without treatment." Sometimes it takes days or a week to get rif of the taste, however.

Monica just called from home and the nuts in question are imported from China. According to NPR news the FDA has only recorded about 50 cases since 2009. NPR news had a link to a Facebook page for this. It's here, and called "Damn you Pine Nuts, and has over 517 members who have experienced this problem!

Is this a case of someone trading in cheaper, non-traditional nuts from China? That the nut's are imported from China is the common thread of most of the people at the Facebook page. They we're bought at Trader Joe's, Albertson's,  Wal- Mart, etc. Why are these nuts still being sold? Where is the FDA on this? Thank goodness for The Internet, and people caring enough to post their symptoms, start a Facebook page, and web page about this.  Beware of any imported from China pine nut's, or pesto made from pine nut's. Yuck!

One businesses social media nightmare

Interesting conversations going on at Twitter concerning the term Urban Homesteading. Apparently a business in Los Angeles named Darvaes claims to own the right to the term. They operate a web page titled, Path to Freedom where they explain why they feel they have a trademark on the term, as well as others. Here is the post. The following is a list of tradmarked terms Path to Freedom say's are owned by someone, somewhere. "SQUARE FOOT GARDENING, EDIBLE LANDSCAPING, SEEDS OF CHANGE, THE PIONEER WOMAN, SIMPLE LIVING, LOCAVORE, HOMESTEAD GARDENS, BACKYARDFARMS, GAIA, VEGE, HONEYBEES, HOMEGROWN, BIODIESEL, BICYCLING, GARDENER, URBAN HOME, GARDEN, COMPOST MASTER, HOMEGROWN HARVEST, LIVING HOMEGROWN, HOMEGROWN HIPPIE, PLANT THE SEED, GARDEN GIRL, URBAN FARMING, HOBBY FARM, URBAN FARM, BIODYNAMIC, GROW BIOINTENSIVE, SLOW FOOD, CERTIFIED ORGANIC BY CCOF, If anyone is offended by these common trademarks, please contact the respective trademark owners!"

Apparently their fans decided to take them up on their suggestion to "contact the receptive trademark owners". The outcry from former fan's of the Dervaes has hit a nerve with the business as they Tweeted just a couple of hours ago, "know the facts before you (re)Act. Stop the 'mob of misinformation' and insighting malicious emails and harassing phone calls." Here is a link to the Twitter page #Urban Homestead. This is where former fan's (the mob) of the business are venting their outrage.

The terms listed above are commonly used by people all the time without problem. What got the Darvaes in trouble was they started to send notices to bloggers, libraries, and other that we're using the term, urban homesteading. They threatened the very people who have been their biggest fans and helped spread the word, bloggers.  It will be interesting to watch this and see what happens. They have had to close their Facebook Page because of the outrage. The continuing attempt to keep people from using the term is only going to erode any goodwill the business has left. Once you start a fight with your customers it's over. Calling them a mob doesn't help either.

We knew it was a new world, but...

Interesting article from The Ellison Chair in International Horticulture, titled, "Get Ready for the Future." It talks about some of the things many of us grew up with, that are quickly being replaced with newer way's and things. This stuff is fascinating. Sure, some of it's scary like the loss of privacy, which we have discussed here before. Still, there is nothing we can do about the changes  except adapt, and look on in wonder as the world changes faster, and faster.

Groupon and "OsechiGate"

It's funny how quickly things can turn for a company these days. We have been talking about Groupon, the onlinecoupon service that is "sweeping" the nation, and world.  I was unaware it existed outside the U.S., yet a commenter at this blog points us to Japan and "OsechiGate". What is OsechiGate? According to Fast Company.com, "sales for Groupon and other daily deals sites in Japan are hurting following an incident we'll call 'OsechiGate'--a bad food deal involving osechi, a decadent Japanese New Year's dish. Despite Groupon founder Andrew Mason's video apology to the people of Japan a few weeks ago, Groupon sales dropped 14% over the last month, according to Coupon-Jp(PDF), a consumer research firm in Japan." Follow this link to see what was offered through the Groupon, and what was actually delivered. Why doesn't this surprise me? The Fasctcompany.com article even tries to see the light at the end of the tunnel with, "some pundits thought the event might actually be a publicity boon for Groupon, under the any-press-is-good-press theory, says SocialTimes. But Coupon-jp's report suggests otherwise. Even Groupon clones have been hurting in the wake of the incident."

I have had some tell me that in the right circumstance Groupon is useful for small garden centers. Moving merchandise that isn't selling as fast as they like, end of the season stuff, discontinued items, etc. I'll stick with what we said before about Groupon. If you want to be associated with the type of merchandising that took place in Japan or what happened recently with FTD on Valentines day then by all means use Groupon. Some will say that the quick apology from Groupon's founder after each event shows Groupon get's it when it comes to companies admitting mistakes. Well how often are we going to be hearing apologies about deals gone wrong?

When this kind of stuff happens people start to wonder where to go if everyone is trying to rip you off. According to some, retailers are basically crooks that mark their stuff up only to turn around and put it on sale, and still make a profit. With that kind of publicity what's a small business to do? Many businesses are scared and feel the only way to be noticed is through these coupon deals. Instead try connecting with your customers! Quit listening to the social media experts and PR people who tell us that Groupon or paid Tweets are the way to gain fans. We want to shop at stores where we know the people running the store, and trust them. The only way to gain those kind of fans is through honesty in advertising. Sure there are plenty of people who love Groupon and sites like that, and there are also plenty of people who like to shop at the box stores. Sometimes trying to change their minds is just not worth it. Better to focus on people who's values and needs more closely align with ours.  Let those people spread the word to their friends. That's social media in a nutshell.

That big "SALE" sign in your window is just BS!

Looks like FTD and Groupon have had a huge Valentines day faux pas. According to Techcrunch.com, "Groupon offered users throughout the U.S. a $20 off coupon for Valentines Day flowers from FTD. People who bought the coupon had to use a special URL to purchase the flowers. And then they were shown a regular price for the flowers of $50 before the $20 coupon. Which is fine except that the regular FTD site shows a price of $40 for the same item, meaning Groupon users only really got $10 off, not $20." What caught my attention with the Techcrunch.com article was the authors idea that, "I assume that 'sale!' signs in retail businesses are usually just BS. The stores keep normal prices higher than they should be so they can offer customers a faux discount. Whether it’s always true or just often true doesn’t matter. People don’t really get all that excited about signs that say 'HUGE SALE 50% OFF' or whatever. We’re desensitized to it." While I agree that most people don't get excited about half-off anymore, the idea that retail stores keep their prices high so we can offer customers discounts is absurd. Yet I have heard this before from people who don't know what it means to run a small retail store. We have an image problem. The Techcrunch.com article finishes with this, "for Groupon to continue to grow they need to get more big national advertisers, and those advertisers need to not be screwing around with customer trust. The Gap campaign was well handled. This FTD 'deal' wasn’t. Sour deals like this hurt Groupon’s brand, because burned customers won’t be so eager to check out the new daily deals. They’ll just assume it’s a scam, and ignore it all. Just like those HUGE SALE! signs in the window at your favorite retail store."

The author of the article say's Groupon needs big national advertisers that won't screw around with customer trust. Say what? If the author of this article is a customer of yours, he thinks your overpricing your merchandise just so you can offer a HUGE SALE. He also thinks big companies care more about customer trust? Why get involved in Groupon if the people you are going to attract with it are like the author of this article? Where is the long term relationship building?

I have written about Groupon before. Why would a garden center would want to get involved with a business model that devalues the plants, and other gardening goods we sell? My market is not the guy who authored the Techcrunch.com article who thinks we are overpriced unless we mark stuff down by half. Why would I want to focus my attention on someone who believes only large companies care about customer trust. A guy who believes that, "just assume it’s a scam, and ignore it all. Just like those HUGE SALE! signs in the window at your favorite retail store."

Crazy low prices on selected merchandise, that has to have a laundry list of qualifications and restrictions to prevent customer mis-understanding, is not for me. My predication is Groupon is going to wish they sold out to Google when they had a chance.

"Promoted" Tweet's are just more advertising

Started to receive what's called "promoted Tweets" in my Twitter feed. The first one was from Wal-mart, then from Valley Crest Tree Company. Being a horticultural company Valley Crest got my attention. Why have they chosen this route? Twitter works because you receive Tweets from people or business you have chosen to receive them from. When you start to receive Tweets from businesses you have not connected with the Tweets become advertising. Sometimes it's advertising that your glad to receive, but more often it's just more noise. Why do businesses insist on "yelling" at you in The Village Square?

Right now the paid "promoted Tweets" are few and far between. What happens when these things start to fill up your feed between stuff you actually want to read? That's what makes these promoted Tweets so weird. Do these companies just assume that we want to receive stuff they feel is important? The last Tweet I received from Valley Crest took me here, to see Gabriel Aubry wearing a Valley Crest baseball hat. I had to look up to see who Gabriel Aubry was, (he is a male model).

I Tweeted Valley Crest about this and they Tweeted back, "Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We're new to Twitter and still learning. We wish your business success in social media!" The most important concept about social media and business is it's permission based. The people who receive your updates have chosen to receive them. When you "push" your message onto my time line you have crossed over the boundary. Your Tweet is now just more advertising.

It's fascinating to watch companies jumping on the social media bandwagon. Some get it, and others seem to think it's just another medium to push their message. If your thinking of using social media the most successful businesses seem to be the ones that take an interest in maintaining the "social" aspect of the medium. Social media works best when everyone agrees to want to receive the message. That's why you get to choose who you "friend" on Facebook, or who's Tweet you receive, or who's e-mail newsletter lands in your in-box. It's called permission based advertising. The recipients give you permission to send them information.  If Twitter starts to get filled with "promoted ads" it will soon fall out of favor and people will move on to the next social media platform.

Join other forward thinking nursery people

We have hit over 180 members of our IGC&N (Independent Garden Center & Nurseries)Facebook Page.

This is a closed group open by invitation only. You must own or work for an independent garden center or Nursery, and have a personal Facebook  page to get in. This group is not designed to compete with nursery associations, or other trade groups. You can belong to them, and be in our group too.

The main criteria for joining is an interest in using new media and in taking yourself and business to a new level. Nowhere have I seen a more free flow of information than in this group. Never in over thirty years of being in the nursery business have so many fellow nursery people been so willing to share their stories of success and failing's. Each day there is something you can take away and use in your business and life. Got a question? Ask and within a few minutes there are answers from some of the most forward and innovative nursery people from around the world.

If your interested in joining send me a Facebook friend request with a note mentioning the group, and we will get you in. New to social media? Nothing will get you up to speed like joining this group. We are learning to use the Facebook medium together. Sure you can listen to talks and presentations about how to do social media, but there is nothing like just jumping in, and learning with others. Go to my Facebook page to get started.

"Got Bulbs?"

A post at Garden Rant today pointed me to an article at Garden Center Magazine titled, "Branding Company looks to   re-vitalize bulb market".  According to the article, "Brand revitalization agency, Woodbine, has been selected by a group of 17 flower bulb trading companies to develop and execute a marketing campaign to invigorate consumer demand for flowering bulbs throughout North America." According to Woodbine "North America accounts for 30% of worldwide flower bulb demand, indicating a growth opportunity here. In 2008, a North American market study undertaken by Knowledge Networks, Inc. identified opportunities to increase demand among current bulb gardeners, while introducing bulbs to a whole new generation of potential gardeners." As we have talked about before bulb sales have taken a nosedive in the last decade.  As people choose to fill their time with other activities, bulbs which require planting before the spring season has arrived, have gotten left behind. To remedy this Anthos, the Royal Trade Association for Nursery Stock and Flower Bulbs headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands has decided to throw some money at the problem. They have committed to a three year, $1.9 million campaign. According to Peter Mitchell, Woodbine President & CEO, "we believe our campaign has the potential to do for the flower bulb industry what ‘Got Milk‘ has done for the milk industry".

Remember the "Got Milk" Campaign from 1993? It was a $23 million a year campaign that is credited with, " greatly increasing milk sales in California though not nationwide." These bulb companies are going to spend 1/12 of what the Milk advisory board did back in the 90's, yet Woodbine say's it will have the potential of doing the same thing "Got Milk" did 25 years ago. Remember the "Got Milk" campaign only increased sales in California, so Woodbine has it's work cut out for it to do the same thing for bulbs.

It's amazing that we are still pointing at an ad campaign from  the last millennium, a time before The Internet and social media existed, as the way forward. It would be nice to think we can change people's behavior with a ad campaign, and bulb sales will increase. Not sure if bulb sales will increase with this ad campaign, but it does show that there is still money to be made with bulbs. Just not the way most of us expect.

Read the comments for the article by Garden Center Magazine for a clue as to what the problem really is with bulbs.

Groupon is not for my small business.

What's the deal with Groupon? You would think it's the be all and end all in coupon deals. From what I understand the concept is quite simple. If your a business you give Groupon half the money from the coupon deal, effectively loosing or making no money on the deal item.  In exchange a lot of traffic flow comes from people who have bought your merchandise for half it's price.  The supposed up tick for the merchant is you get a lot of people who may have never walked through your doors before. Maybe, just maybe they will like what they see and buy other things that you can make a little money on. The other hope is they will be so astounded by your store they can't wait to come back without coupons, and buy your stuff at the regular price. How is this any different than the old days when you would run an ad in the paper offering crazy low prices on loss leaders? I realize it has the modern twist of being on The Internet, and so many people have to buy the coupons before they kick in. One reviewer at sitejabber.com say's she loves it and, "if it's a restaurant you frequent, you may want to buy more than one and use it on different visits. double check the expiration date, it's usually good for about a year, but they vary depending on each deal." This lady already frequents the restaurant, so she is not a new customer. Imagine owning that restaurant and seeing her come in with her half priced coupons. "Yea, another meal served at no profit. Wonder how many more coupons she has?" Another person who love's  Groupon say's, "just got back from White Water Raftng at half the cost the others in our boat paid." I wonder if he told the others on the raft what a great deal he got? I wonder who the rafting company owner want's to have come back on the rafting trip next time?  Likely the people who paid full price and supported the business so it can stay in business. I love this one, "I've gotten 50% off The Melting Pot (still my favorite, I hope that coupon comes around again soon), a super cheap massage, and tickets to a wine tasting. Another time, I was just about to buy a membership to my local yoga studio, when I got a Groupon offering 60% off to that very same studio! I spent $45 instead of $108."  I am sure the yogo studio is jumping for joy with the realization that you we're going to join at full price, but are now joining at half. Another reviewer say's, "so far I have bought and used 3 groupons: One for a chemical peel facial that was fantastic and half price. One for cupcakes that were expensive but got to try them cause of groupon. I would not rush out for the cupcakes again, but they were better than I have made so far." I am sure the cupcake maker is thrilled you came into their store to get half priced cupcakes you'll never buy again.

As a customer I can certainly see where paying less than half the price for something is exciting. I just wonder why businesses still think this is the way to long term customers? One reviewer say's, "legit merchants that have confidence in the value of what they are doing... cut their profit because they are optimistic you will like and be back!" Why don't those same merchants have confidence you will be back because they sell great stuff at a reasonable price all the time? They're only legit because they need a half price deal to get you into their store the first place?

My aversion to Groupon is not from the customers standpoint.If you get a deal to go to that garden center and get $50 off of $100 in merchandise then great! If your that garden center what is it about your store that requires that you give away stuff to get customers? These same customers would never have walked in just because you have really great stuff and charge a reasonable price for it?

I have always been a contrarian when it comes to the current fad. It would seem the majority of users like Groupon, and for some businesses it seems to work for them.  Here is an article from Inc.com on Groupon. Loved this high rated comment, "Make no mistake, Groupon works for Groupon first and foremost. And it works for customers. What it doesn't work profitabily for is small business! Most tales of success are anecdotal, built on 'hope' at how a brand is able to attract new customers...You want more customers? Of course you do! Find out why the ones shopping with you don't come back first, fix that, reward them and you'll really make your small business work."  What a novel idea!

Gardening virtually

Have you ever played Myst? How about Riven? My knowledge of these two graphic video games likely ages me. I am not a gamer.  I received one or the other from my sister years ago. These games are not like Farmville, which is so prevalent on Facebook. Farmville is cartoonish, while games like Riven are as real looking as a computer generated game can be. While at the ANLA Management Clinic a week ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Cissel of 10-20 media, and watch a preview of a new gardening game they have come up with. The still unnamed game has a "world" along the lines of Riven. In  this virtual world birds fly in and out of view, water laps onto a shore, and  various events can be programed to happen at different times in the game. In this new un-named game the object is to grow to maturity various plants.

So there you are in  this virtual world trying to grow a real, or made up tree. Maybe it's a cross between an apple and a loquat, an apquat. You nurture your apquat by watering, feeding, controlling pests, etc.  When the apquat fruits you are rewarded with "gold coins" or other reward. Success, you can grow stuff virtually. So far it's just a game, and the connection to our garden center business is zero.

Being from an age group that doesn't automatically "get it" when it comes to games I had to have Steve explain why he was showing this idea at the ANLA Clinic? How does growing a apquat to maturity and fruit benefit the local garden center? When you successfully "grow" something in this virtual game you are rewarded. How the reward is paid out has not been determined yet. You take your reward to the locally owned garden center where you receive your prize! Guess what? You get a free, or reduced priced real plant or other garden center item.

That's when I had my AH AH moment! Someone, maybe a young person who has no experience gardening plays the game and learns that plants need water to grow. To thrive they need fertilizer, which can be applied to the virtual plant. Put too much on the plant dies. Put on the right amount it grows. Oh, oh, mildew has arrived and covers the leaves. You learn that organic fungicide is the answer, or perhaps moving the plant to a sunnier location might help. Now the plant thrives and you get a reward! Only to "cash in" the reward involves going down to that place called a garden center. Normally that might be intimidating to the new gardener, but you have learned from  playing the game that the "garden center" is the friendly place with answers to your questions. You have also learned from playing the game you need fertilizer, and mildew control. Now you enter this real garden center armed with enough knowledge to keep from feeling "foolish", and ready to grow a real plant.

They key to the game for garden retail is the reward, which brings in newbie gardeners to the garden shop.  Some may play the game, win a reward and never cash it in at the garden center. That's o.k., because others will wan't to cash in, and try their hands at real gardening. "If I can do this stuff virtually, maybe I can for real".  After all, you won a real thing, which needs other real things to keep it growing. I can see all sorts of  opportunities for interaction with the local garden center. Imagine a virtual "Golden Gecko Garden Center" that exists in the game. It's the "magical place" where you go to hear from the "plant wizards" and buy the "potions" needed for keeping that virtual garden growing, and  thriving. After all, you want to win another prize.

From what I understand the game is slated for release sometime this summer. It could be a fantastic way to interest newbie gardeners in gardening. So much these days is done virtually, and if we can at least get some interest in that world, we might be able to get some interest in our "real" world of gardening. Keep an eye on this!

On the way to work

I drive across The American River in Coloma/Lotus everyday. Thought I would take a picture this morning as we we're crossing the bridge. This is the half way point on my daily 12 mile drive to work. This area is about 40 miles to the east of Sacramento.  During the summer the river is crowded with rafter's.  The rivers origin is the high Sierra, and end's up in draining into the Sacramento River.  Empire Creek which passes through the nursery feeds this river.

You'll read it here first

Over at Today's Garden Center there is a post about the troubles at Monrovia. It's stuff we have already talked about. The comments are interesting and not to sympathetic of Monrovia. What caught my eye was this comment by anonymous, "several good points have been made in the above comments but no one has mentioned that its not only Monrovia who has been spinning this sob story to all of us independents. All of the major industry magazines have ran the story of Monrovia but all they say is, All of the independents should increase their orders to help this poor company. I would have really liked someone to write something closer representing the views of the majority of people in the industry, (or what I consider to be the majority from what I have read on discussion boards such as this)and asked the question of why we should buy more from them or at least a little more questioning of Monrovia's motives." Hey anonymous, there is a RSS button in the right sidebar of this blog.   It looks like the one in this post.  Hit that button and follow the instructions. You'll receive this blog in your what ever form of media you choose, every time a new post comes out. The reason you may want to do that is we have been talking about the Monrovia issue since the infamous letter came out. Been having an honest discussion about the events ever since.

Don't miss out on the news before it becomes news.

A micro-nursery craze?

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 70's one of my favorite beers was one known as Anchor Steam. It was so different than the run of the mill beer like Bud and Coors. Rich, dark, and robust I had no idea that the Anchor Brewing Co. was the first micro-brewery. They would be the first in what would be a Renaissance of the brewing art's in America. Over the last three decades the micro-brewery craze has grown. It has changed many peoples idea of what a good beer is, as well as created a mystic around the idea of Micro business. Small, efficient, all about quality, and run by a small crew, these micro-breweries are an example of what might happen with the nursery trade. Recently we have decreased the size of our outside area at the garden center to better reflect the change in our customers habits. More vegetables, flowers, and perennials, and less in landscaping shrubs and trees. We no longer need the extra acreage, and wanted to shrink the frame to fit the picture. So it was interesting to hear a speaker (can't remember who it was)at the ANLA Management Clinic say that most nurseries carried too much inventory for current conditions. They should reduce the inventory and move what the do carry more frequently. Create a higher profit per square foot is what he said.This get's me to thinking that what happened with the beer industry is what will happen with the garden center trade.You'll end up with the massive operations like Home Depot (Budwiser) and Lowes (Coors), and Wal Mart (Schlitz), and the rest of us small garden centers (Micro-breweries). We should covet the underdog role and rebuild our smaller businesses along the lines of what the micro-breweries did. Micro-breweries have tasting bars, someone to explain the differences in beer types, some form of entertainment on weekends, high quality product, and an independent spirit.

So rather than worrying about what the big boys are up to we should be quietly working away at bringing back the craftsmanship that was the nursery trade of old. Selling a higher quality product at a reasonable price. Creating an atmosphere of experimentation, and wild eyed enthusiasm for what we are building. Allowing that there is a place for the big boys and what they sell, but that's not us. Teaching the younger people how to build and create their own futures in horticulture. Really just getting back our mojo and actually promoting the fact that we are micro-nurseries. Soon the kind of people we want for customers will search us out just as beer aficionado's will search out their favorite micro-breweries. Sounds kind of exciting if I do say so myself. Cheers!