Re: Perennial plant of the year 2001

Nan,


Unfortunately many garden centers will stock only the more common or ordinary 
perennials. Also they are at the mercy of hiring people who are only 
interested in the paycheck, not learning how to retail any items.

There are many different type of customers. There are those that are the real 
fanatics who want the unusual and are willing the pay the price. They want 
information about newer plants. They are willing to spend any extra time and 
effort coddling a difficult variety, etc. then there are the customers who 
just want to plant something to make their yard look nice with the minimum 
amount of effort. 
Also they want the most for the least. You have to set up your business 
according to type of clientele you wish to attract.

Its difficult sometimes particularly if you have a large business to cater to 
both groups. The only method of survival for smaller businesses is that they 
provide goods and services which customers cannot find at the larger garden 
centers. In our business it is difficult to compete with the big chains on 
the usual stuff so we have to adopt a strategy of attracting customers with 
material that they cannot buy elsewhere or that bigger chains don;t want to 
deal with. This requires quite a bit of educating  your clientele.

Recently I attended a seminar on perennials given by a local garden center. I 
was rather disappointed by the selection discussed. They were common and 
usual perennials. Then again I realized that the speaker was talking to the 
average homeowner, promoting those items that are "tried and true".

Al

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