Open Register

High shipping costs have fountain vendors thinking twice about trade shows

Michael Major is a freelance writer, who has contributed stories to Garden Center Magazine. Here, he looks at one of the shifting trends in the marketing of fountains:

Considering doing your fountain shopping at the shows this summer? Think again. The high cost of shipping has caused many fountain vendors to consider alternate ways to peddle their wares – largely at the expense of trade shows.
To wit …

“We’ve had our worst year ever, so we’ve stopped attending trade shows,” says Lorraine Henderson, who owns the Statue Factory in Kenduskeag, Maine. Her company is a small manufacturer, and she is finding better success selling off the lot. “People who are out driving may see something and buy it,” she says “This seems to be the best way. Trade shows are cost-prohibitive because of the shipping, not to mention the packaging, for these goods are breakable.”

Carol Zuckner, who owns Precision Fountains in St. Louis, Mo., attended up to three or four national shows a year, but now she foregoes the shows. “What it costs to attend the shows, especially when you include hotels and meals, it becomes very expensive,” she notes. “Whether I’ll regret it later, I don’t know, but, luckily, we’re staying very busy, which is the way we were before. But I don’t know if we’d ever return to trade shows. It’s hard to see if they would bring in more business or less.”

Richard Devono, who owns Bronze-Depot Inc. in Orlando, Fla., didn’t wait for the recent escalation of shipping costs to help him decide to phase out trade shows. “When I started the business 15 years ago,” he says, “I decided then that trade shows were too expensive. We’ve never gone to one. I’ve attended trade shows with other product lines, and they’re not what they used to be. Attendance has dropped. More and more people are shopping through the Internet.”

Not all vendors have put the kibosh on show-going, however. Robert Borta, president of The Brass Baron Fountain & Statuary Inc. in Cary, Ill., still believes trade shows can be useful. However, even he has cut back the traveling because of costs.

“The high costs for shipping fountains and statuary make shows particularly difficult,” Borta says. “Bronze is somewhat lighter than concrete, but still expensive to ship. But it’s not only the cost of freight getting there. Sometimes you can ship several pallets to a show over 1,000 miles away, and the haul drays to get the products from the dock to the booth can cost more. Virtually every concrete manufacturer will tell you the same thing. There are some shows that include these costs in the cost of the booth, which obviously makes these shows more attractive.”

Borta says the regional shows also hold special appeal. “A lot of the regional shows serve the independent retailer, so by attending these shows, we feel we are supporting these retailers and their organizations,” he says. “Even though we fight the battle of higher costs for shippage and drays, we feel the independent retailers are the lifeblood of our category, and we want to be there for them.”

-- Michael Major

Don’t leave water-gardening customers hanging

Paula Biles is a writer/photographer specializing in aquatic plants. She is also co-author of “The Lotus” and former executive director of the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society. Biles wrote the feature in the February issue of Garden Center Magazine focusing on new aquatic plants. Today she discusses how to keep water-gardening customers happy, even if “hot new plants” aren’t readily available.

Most pond owners don’t care about botanical names. They want reliable aquatics that will do well in their ponds. Yes, they may like something new or distinctive, but unless they are plant geeks, chances are good they won’t remember botanical names. The average water gardener is focused on results, not on names.

So, when gardeners read about new varieties, they need your expertise to recommend which ones will actually thrive and which ones won’t. Even more important, they need you to suggest better alternatives for their ponds. The worst thing your garden center staff can do is say, “I’m very sorry, but that’s too new for us to carry.”

Educate your staff about characteristics (pros and cons) of the latest and greatest aquatics, especially the ones that are appropriate for your zone. Also make sure staff can suggest other plants with similar qualities. Don’t let shoppers be teased by a pretty magazine photo but have to walk out empty-handed and frustrated with your garden center.

When handled with foresight, your garden center’s response to new varieties can make you shine. Knowledgeable centers can rise above box and online stores by knowing what is available. Staff can recommend new plants that will work for your customers and direct them away from any new aquatics that won’t thrive in their situations. Your garden center can build relationships with pond owners that the competition cannot match.

-- Paula Biles

Managing through the tough times

Dan Mullhall is one of the owners of Mullhall's, a garden retail, landscape and nursery in Omaha, NE. Dan currently serves as president of ANLA's Retail Division. Dan says, "Growing up in a family business, I've only had one job, but I've had thousands of bosses as I see each customer as being in charge."

For many of us, who joined the working class after the mid-80's, there has not been a protracted economic slow down to contend with. That is particularly true here in Heartland where we have avoided (or haven't gotten to participate in) the great boons or the great busts. But what is going on now in the market place sure feels different. There is a nervousness and uncertainty in the consumer's mind that is really affecting their purchasing. There are some things we are planning to do here at Mulhall's, and I'm looking for ideas from anyone else as well.

Read more at ANLA's 2009 Management Clinic Blog.

Standout POP materials turned heads at Farwest

Leslie Kirk is a public relations manager with Eberly Public Relations, specializing in media relations for the home, garden, design, and agribusiness industries. Today, she talks about how point-of-purchase materials help drive home marketing messages.

Last month, along with many of you, I attended the 2008 Farwest Show in Portland, Ore. And, wow! I was so impressed with the creative plant and product displays this year. The industry as a whole has come such a long way in branding and marketing that I am just itching to see what happens next.

I spent a good deal of my time flipping through catalogs, reading signs and learning about the new efforts companies are making to reach out to customers, and even the “unknown” Generations X and Y. In fact, I spoke with quite a few show attendees on the growing importance of point-of-purchase (POP) materials and how they can impact sales and brand equity.

One of the lectures at the show featured this topic. Fran Hopkins, president and founder of Under A Foot Plant Co. and its national plant brand of creeping perennials, Stepables, spoke about specific strategies for utilizing POP materials to market brand messages.

So, I wanted to share a few ideas from Fran’s talk and some insights on POP topics that I absorbed while at the show -- a subject that seemed to be on the top of everyone’s list of ways to integrate the most effective marketing styles.

The growing signs of success

Drue Townsend is senior vice president of marketing for FASTSIGNS International Inc. Today she offers some insight on creating effective signs.

Companies from major corporations to small individually-owned businesses are trying to create attention for their products and services by using every media available. With all the competition for consumers’ attention, how does a company stand out? Signage has proved to be one of the best uses of a company’s advertising dollars and helps even the smallest business gain attention.

Signs and graphics have three general purposes: to inform, direct and sell. The initial impression a person has about a business is often through the signage that it utilizes. Many consumer stops are made on impulse, partly prompted by a business’ sign and how well it reinforces what the consumer may or may not already know about the business.

Technology is constantly evolving and new products are being introduced to the sign and graphics market. There are advances to increase production speed, create a more lifelike and full-color realistic product representation and provide a variety of placement opportunities to sign buyers.

Green industry products generate ‘oxygen credit’

Charlie Hall holds the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M University and is the author of a green industry blog, “Making Cents.” Today he talks about the need for research and promotion of sustainability.

Sustainability is a major topic of discussion these days, particularly at the recent Seeley Conference. It may not seem like it, but ultimately sustainability is an economically based subject, whether you view it from a short-run or long-run perspective. The more the green industry can demonstrate its sustainable practices (and mitigate those that aren’t), the better off economically the industry will be.

Several folks in the media and otherwise have articulated the need for our industry to be proactive in demonstrating its “sustainableness.” Project EverGreen, America in Bloom, Arbor Day Foundation are some examples.

Research is desperately needed to document the carbon offset, or better yet, the “oxygen credit” that is provided by our industry’s products. One such piece of research recently released is a study that documents the fact that healthy turfgrass can capture as much as four times more carbon from the air than is produced by lawnmower engines. See http://www.opei.org/carbonreport/ for the full report.

Other university studies are underway, but it will take some time because life cycle analysis is far from an exact science at this point. But in the historic words of Larry the Cable Guy, let’s “Git-R-Done!”

--Charlie Hall

Trend-watcher shares new definition of “mass”

Jill Sands represents the David T. Sands Collection presented by The-Encore-Group. Today she shares some insight on what “mass market” really means. You can e-mail Jill to obtain the full copy of her latest Trend Forecaster.

Individualism is in! The Joneses are out! Things familiar are losing their caché. A new, expanded definition of “mass” goes beyond what you buy at Wal-Mart. This new definition includes objects that everyone knows about, whether affordable or not. Because these products (Rolex, BMW, Louis Vuitton) are available globally and no longer exclusive, the market will shift to unique and custom products, creating niche markets.

Are wholesalers the new retailers?

Vickie Haushild owns The Garden Shop at Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood, Wash., and an online storefront. Today she talks about an emerging problem: wholesalers and distributors bypassing retailers and targeting consumers directly.

A disturbing trend is taking place that has small retailers worried. The line is being blurred between wholesale and retail sales. The small-business person who has invested in an online store either as a single endeavor or as an addition to a brick-and-mortar business is being undercut by the very distributors and wholesalers they have supported.

Case in point: an East Coast distributor with an online presence for its retail customers was contacted when a loyal customer was shocked to see an identical website with a different domain name. The prices were unbelievably low. Knowing the work that went into the wholesale site, the retailer naively called the distributor to let them know someone had copied their design and merely changed some colors.

Meekly, the owner of the distributorship explained that the Web site was indeed his own. He had also gone into the retail business. Since the wholesaler could buy the products at a substantially lower price, the Web prices were considerably lower than any retailer could possibly charge.

This trend is a short term gain for wholesalers. Distributorships sell in quantity to retailers who sell to the customer. The customer wants good value. But the customer buys one at a time, not 100 at a time. If the distributors sell at a low price to the consumer, the retail businesses will no longer be able to sustain their business and the distributors have lost their biggest customers. It’s a no-win situation and an unhealthy trend for all concerned.

-- Vickie Haushild

Retailer shares a garden moment

Jeff Griff, owner of Lowe’s Greenhouses, Florist & Gift Shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, shares some thoughts on a recent morning spent wandering through his own garden. His essay is also slated to appear in a local newspaper.

God is calling… are you in?

This morning I heard a tree fall in the woods… because I was listening.

It was going to be a busy day, so I didn’t have much time. I poured a cup of coffee and headed out into the early morning sunshine to walk the yard. The bluebirds were taking turns delivering nest materials to their box. Grasses from the edge of the woods seem to be their order of the day.

I was worried that my peaches may not be pollinated for the lack of bees, but was pleasantly surprised to find a bumble busy at the task. The wild dogwood at the edge of the woods has more flowers this year than last. It is happy in its home.

It’s marketing mania at California pack trials

David Kuack, editor of GMPro magazine, made his yearly pilgrimage to the California pack trials in April. Today, he shares some of the interesting (and eye opening) marketing materials companies displayed. Look for full coverage of the trials in the July issue of GMPro.

This year’s California pack trial displays offered something for everyone, from the whimsical to the provocative. Several companies that participated in the trials said they are seeing an increasing number of retailers stopping and visiting their displays--this includes both big boxes and independents.

Fides’ point-of-sale posters drew the most comments. At many stops people were asking “Have you been to Fides?” Each poster incorporated the specific flower that was on display. Would the posters help sell more flowers? Not sure, but they would certainly get people to stop and look.