Re: Nursery deaths

**J* E* M* S* <h*@sbcglobal.net>**

In central Indiana, there was a spat of garden center closings a few years ago. Growers, though, have taken a hit lately with the downturn in the housing market...no new home construction, no trees sold. A bank called the note on one of the oldest family-owned nursery growers in the area and it had to close.

Some of the garden centers that closed were in one geographic region of the metro area. One person retired and couldn't sell the place (prices through the roof and in a not so great part of town, state-of-the-art facility, though). One closed in a divorce...it was owned by a guy who loved plants and had been interested in them since he was a kid. That was sad...a state of the art garden center that was disassembled and hauled away, hopefully to be a garden center some where else.

We have several long-established independents...I can think of 10 off the top of my head in a 20 mile range of my house. Some have multiple stores and if I counted all of those the number would be close to 20. Most are large. A few are small and one specializes in certain plants. One has very sophisticated marketing, wonderful newsletters that have a warm feel and classy look. Their marketing supports and refers back to programs, sales, seasonal info, etc. Very well done. I don't usually shop there because I work for a garden center and have a nursery dealer license, so I don't have to pay the very high-end prices the sophisticated one charges. I do check it out periodically, though. It is in a very affluent section of the metro area. The 50,000 square-foot independent garden center (20,000 square foot greenhouse and nursery area) where I work is in a commercial/residential area and is attached to a hardware store (a Do-It Best). We draw a broad spectrum of shoppers, form tho
 se who only buy flats to those looking for the latest and greatest and we draw from quite a distance, 60+ miles way. The store where I work expanded by about 15,000 square feet last year and a small amount this year.

jems

On Apr 11, 2012, at 9:40 PM, Dan Clost wrote:

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

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

____________________
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Director, Garden Writers Association
hoosiergardener@sbcglobal.net
http://hoosiergardener.com
Phone: (317) 251.3261
P.O. Box 20310
Indianapolis, IN 46220-0310
Co-author, Indiana Gardener's Guide
Author, The Visitor's Guide to American Gardens
Great Garden Speakers

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