Nursery deaths

**D* C* <d*@sympatico.ca>**

The unique character of the nurseries are what drives people to them but
alas, like independent book stores, they are a dying item.

Kate  Copsey

I wish that were enough, the unique character, but it is often not enough. I
work for a fairly large nursery/garden centre operation a few hours west of
Toronto. It takes both hands and one foot to count the small nurseries that
have closed up shop over the last decade within a half hour's drive of our
yard. To balance that, there are several small niche operations, e.g. native
plants, hanging baskets, hostas, that have opened but they have several
defining characteristics. They are not the owner's primary source of income;
indeed, they are probably not supplemental income in the sense of being
necessary and they occupy a very small niche in the sense of one focal point
product without all the bits and pieces that "could" be sold with them.

Our customers expect to find everything they want or need at one place. That
means having a huge inventory with all the costs associated with it:
operational costs, buildings, the land to grow/hold it all and the staff to
manage it. That means deep, deep pockets and not everybody has them. I
should mention that cash flow is often the final nail in the coffin.

We, the corporate we, enjoyed having a lot of specialist nurseries
(different from niche) within our cachement. We had very good relationships
with many of them and often referred folks when they were looking for a
specific plant. Mind you, there are also several larger centres who we
consider our direct competition and, naturally, we try not send them
business. That said, we do maintain good contacts with those competitors.
Good competition is good for business.

We do our best to be a plant place, and in that sense, perhaps, we have a
unique character- other than myself, of course.

I know many descry the box stores- Lowes, Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Home
Depot etc- as product pushers- one of which happens to be a plant. We have a
few like that in our area but we also have a couple with pretty decent
garden centres which are properly managed. I can't knock the quality of
those plants or the pricing- I can suggest that their knowledge isn't up to
par with ours but is that always necessary? I'd like to think so, but
reality says not.

Our nursery has survived and grown, market share and sales, because of savvy
corporate marketing that matches today's customers' shopping expectations.
In that sense, it has nothing to do with the product. (which kills me to say
because I'm a plant person through and through and not a bean counter)

However, the main reason for responding to Kate and Dwayne is to say that I
believe the real cost of disappearing nurseries is not measured in dollars;
it is measured in knowledge.

Dan

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