It's inconceivable!

The Princess Bride is one of my all time favorite movies. In it the character Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) responds to each setback with "It's inconceivable!" To which Indigo Montoya responds "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

This past weekend I was at a garden center and I was flabbergasted! The place was a mess. Display gardens and shrubs overgrown, garden beds weedy and tired, trees knocked over and cinder blocks everywhere. "I can't image that any other retailer could survive running their business like most garden centers," I said to my wife. "Can you imagine a department store with piles of clothes on the floor, dirty and wrinkled? Displays featuring torn product, empty tables and with no help in sight? It's inconceivable!"

Yes, I think I do know what 'inconceivable' means. Of course this is a generalization, but I would challenge you to take a good look at your garden center. Are customers met with knowledgeable and friendly staff? Is the product displayed professionally... signed with pricing? Is the product worth the price, or is it tired, leggy or any other way sub-par?

So on Monday morning I wasn't surprised by what I found in my Fax machine. I was reading the Bottom Line, a weekly update sent by Robert Hendrickson to his Garden Center Group clients. This week (Vol. 14, No. 447) he commented on the fact that many garden center owners and employees admit that they don't shop. He was surprised. How can a retailer not participate in the retail process? How can they possibly understand the consumer experience if their only frame of reference is their own store? It's inconceivable! That might explain how some retailers find it acceptable to stock dirty and chipped pottery, or plants that are months past peak. Any other retail store would be out of business, or they would at least fire the manager. You need to hold you and your business to the highest retail standards. How can you know what that is if you aren't out there to experience it.

You need to get out there and see what's really going on in retail. As consumers we make decisions everyday where and when we will shop. It is now gotten to the point where I only shop my local Stop & Shop when I absolutely have to. My experience at Whole Foods has made me a more discerning customer so I find I am less tolerant of sub par produce or poor selection of products - worse yet core products that are out of stock.

If a typical consumer starts looking at a major grocery chain with this type of scrutiny do you really expect them to give you and your garden center a pass? Do you really expect them to pay premium prices for a bargain basement experience?

I know... it's inconceivable.

Stellaaaa!!!

When you talk about Stella most people will recall Marlon Brando wailing in Street Car Named Desire (thanks Sergei). Of course people in the green industry will think of the ubiquitous Stella D'Oro daylily. I recently wrote an article for Today's Garden Center titled the Stella D'Oro factor... etc. In the article I argued plant sales are impacted by... well, plant sales. The more people see it, the more people buy it, so more people see it... rinse and repeat.
These days you see Stella D'Oro everywhere from the mass planting in front of the 'Welcome to Our Town' sign to the desolation of the McDonald's parking lot. It is in just about every tragic front lawn perennial border and is sold by the truckloads at the local Home Depot or Lowes. People like what they see and they see a lot of Stella.
But now it is like that stupid pop song that you can't get out of your head. It is driving me crazy. Imagine hearing the Bangle's 'Just another manic monday...' over and over and over again. The only thing that could possibly be worse is the 'Knock-Out' rose. Worse yet is when you see them together... and you see that alot.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for plants that sell well and people that are happy with hemerocallis. It is just that it has become a second tier commodity that has become over exposed. It is the David Hasslehof effect. It is tolerable at times, but sometimes... Won't it just go away?
So now I just play a game of 'I Spy' all the time pointing out the KO and the SDO. I was thinking of creating some sort of Internet virus where people would submit photos of all the Stella roaming around their town. There would probably be millions! No thanks. (Actually there are already 7480 Stella pics on a google image search).
Ok, so hopefully I got that out of my system. I have to go dead-head the Stella D'Oro I have planted in my backyard... just a few yards from, well, you guessed it... the 'Knock-Out' rose.