During GCA’s Summer Tour last month, a retailer posed the following questions on the bus: Do you carry the national fertilizer/pest control brands? Are your prices similar to what the big boxes offer?
The responses fell into one of three camps:
* Yes we carry them, and prices are comparable to big boxes.
* Yes we carry them, but price according to our own standards.
* No, we don’t offer them.
Garden centers on my bus that ditched the big brands expressed no regrets. Several retailers said this move helped them differentiate themselves.
I’m glad the strategy is working for them. But it’s a risky move, in my book. The big boys have invested millions of dollars in high visibility marketing campaigns and their products are instantly recognizable.
For novice gardeners, these brands are probably the only lawn and garden products they’ve ever heard of -- and the only ones they feel comfortable asking for. Before coming into your store, they may even have visited the company’s Web site to do some research. At the very least, they’ve already been thoroughly influenced by the thousands of ads they’ve been peppered with.
These folks are coming into your store expecting you to have the latest and greatest formulation of this national product. It’s what everybody is talking about, after all. Tell them you’re not carrying it, and you’ll find a lot of customers heading to the big box down the street.
I say, stock the stuff and price it however you want. If a consumer is intent on purchasing that one product, chances are they’ll buy it and be on their way. You don’t lose a sale, and you’ve solidified your reputation as a gardening resource.
If you get really lucky, the customer will run into your top salesperson who will show them the national brands and also direct them to your other quality products (that offer much better margins for you).
Hey, we can dream, can’t we?
-- Sarah
The Novalis consortium added 7 companies to grow for the Novalis Plants That Work by Color program: Armstrong Growers, Beds & Borders Inc., Carolina Nurseries, Peace Tree Farms, Sunbelt Greenhouses, Tanasacre Nursery and Wenke Greenhouses.
