Open Register

Achla Designs joins forces with Koko Co.

Achla Designs has joined forces with Koko Co. to sell its line of indoor/outdoor floor mats to garden retailers.

The mats are made of custom-dyed polyurethane straws and can be hosed down for easy cleanup. They’re available in a variety of sizes, colors and patterns. You can see them for yourself at AmericasMart in July and other fall gift shows. Mats are in-stock for immediate delivery.

Achla Designs and Koko Co. are currently working on designs and colors for 2009.

--Sarah

I spy a case of product espionage

A camera flash caused me to look up from the booth I was manning at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas yesterday. A couple scurried down the aisle The man appeared to be attempting to hide something in his shoulder bag.

“Umm, I think those people just took a picture of your booth,” I told the fellow who was in charge of the booth next to mine. It’s a company that distributes all kinds of goods for outdoor cooking.

“Hey you!” the booth owner shouted. “What are you taking a picture of?”

Within seconds, the middle-age couple had rounded the corner and disappeared into the crowd. Another, younger man in the next-door booth gave chase while a merchant across the aisle called show security on his cell.

I’d heard about such intellectual theft taking place at industry trade shows and markets, but this was the first time I had seen it firsthand.

Another merchant on our row said it’s not at all uncommon for secret photos to be taken at trade shows so unscrupulous manufacturers can copy the product designs and have them manufactured overseas. In fact, she said, one time she brought a prototype of a fire pit to a show, only to see the exact design be manufactured offshore and appear at the next market – even before she could get the fire pit manufactured through traditional channels.

The last I saw, a show official had escorted the photographing couple to the lobby, where she was sternly telling them, through an interpreter, that they are not allowed to take photos of merchandise in booths without the permission of the booth owner. The man who shot the photo was reluctantly deleting photos from his digital cameral.

-- Kevin

Garden Center product survey closing soon

The Garden Center Product Survey from Garden Center Magazine will be closing soon. If you are a garden retailer and have not taken it yet, you are invited to participate. The results will be published in the August issue.

Click here to take the survey.

-- Carol

Nothing to sneeze at

I hate my nose.

It’s not so much that it’s un-nose-ually long or fat or wide. It just doesn’t work very well. While other people are, quite literally, breathing in spring, I’m breathing in steady streams of generic-brand nasal spray. I have to do that in order to breathe at night. I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on television, but I would still suggest breathing at night is a good thing.

Spring for an allergic guy, on the other hand …

When I was a child, I was tested for allergies. This wasn’t a written quiz; the doctor injected traces of dozens of common allergens into my back. As this test goes, when you are allergic to any of them, a red spot or welt forms, alerting the medical team to what allergies you might have. I scored a virtual 100 percent. My back looked like a dartboard. I recall the nurse taking one look and shaking her head and saying, “oh, poor baby …” I’m not a student of medical lexicon, but I would still suggest that a nurse telling a patient, “oh, poor baby …” is not a good thing.

Through the years, I’ve done the shots, the pills, the sprays, the works. Nothing has consistently opened my nasal passages  — especially during spring. But I take heart (and nose) in the news of a relatively new product designed to fight prospective breathing problems during the peak gardening season. It’s called Airborne Seasonal, and it’s part of the Airborne Inc. line of herbal health formulas that battle some of the nose’s worst enemies.

I’m not a military strategist, but I would still suggest that any battle against some of the nose’s worst enemies is a good thing.

Yale

Human hair--the ultimate weed control?

Forget cedar mulch, coconut fibers and plastic disks. Recycled human hair is the cure for your weed woes, according to Florida-based company Smart Grow.

The business uses recycled hair from the wig industry, beauty parlors and barber shops to create weed barrier mats. The fibers are 100 percent biodegradable and contain 15% nitrogen and other micronutrients.

Researchers at University of Florida are testing the mats on tomato plants. Aaron Palmateer, associate professor of plant pathology, told ABC News that the tomatoes are showing increased yield. “We were really amazed. It’s really promising,” he said.

-- Sarah

Design guru gives tips for making outdoor living a seamless transition

It was just a matter of time before the HGTV crowd got the memo and embraced outdoor living as the next home segment in need of a dramatic makeover.

At the just-completed winter market at AmericasMart in Atlanta, designer Christopher Lowell staged a showcase of his latest design ideas. A big part of his faux home design was an outdoor living vignette, which featured wicker chairs, ottoman, end table and cushions from Designer Wicker and resin pots from KAS International.

Lowell said today’s homeowners see their outdoor spaces as home extensions rather than separately themed occasional areas. Here are some of his observations:

• Demand for substantial oversized furniture that mimics and coordinates with conventional indoor furniture will spike.
• Requests for oversized weatherproof coffee tables will increase.
• The need for outdoor art, lighting and accessories will increase as consumers attempt to duplicate what they’ve done indoors – outside.

The goal for many consumers and decorators is to make the transition from indoors to outdoors seamless. So weather-resistant fabrics that complement (rather than clash with or dominate) interior fabrics will be key to achieving that five-star-resort feeling, Lowell said.

• Fabrics should focus on subtle patterns with a greater emphasis on texture and solid-driven coordinates.
• Mix-and-match patterns will give consumers the opportunity to decorate outside the way they do inside.
• Softer, lightweight indoor-outdoor fabrics will be in greater demand versus the harder canvas and duck varieties of the past.

-- Kevin

Garden gear, organized

I’ve been on a decluttering spree lately. I’m expecting my second child in a couple of months, and we’re in a race to make room for the new arrival. I’m awestruck and frankly a little ashamed at how much stuff we have. Useless stuff. Broken stuff. Stuff I can’t even remember buying. It’s everywhere.

Apparently I’m not the only person ditching and downsizing. It seems like Americans are on a temporary consumption break and are taking a long hard look at what they’ve accumulated. Then what do we do? We buy more stuff! In this case, sturdy boxes and racks to help us organize the possessions we’re keeping.

Check out a few news stories dissecting this trend:

• The psychology of clutter. The Denver Post
• Downsize, then organize. Post-Bulletin
• Organize your home. Houston Chronicle

One organization item on my list is a standing rack to store long-handled garden tools. Come spring, I’ll bet other homeowners will be looking for ways to effectively stash garden gear and outdoor living accoutrements.

Are you offering storage solutions in your store? Or will customers have to visit the local big box to get what they need? (Target is already displaying a cool outdoor bench/storage box and garden tool wall brackets. Saw them last week. Oh, and the cutest line of children’s garden gear. But I digress…)

Right now, while cold winds still prevail, is a great time to help your customers get organized for spring. Highlight the storage solutions you offer. Help them get a handle on clutter. It’ll make spring even sweeter.

-- Sarah

Consumer pesticide demand to reach $1.7 billion in 2011

U.S. demand for home and garden pesticides is projected to increase 4.8% per year to $1.7 billion in 2011, according to market research company Freedonia Group.

Insecticides are the largest category on the market, accounting for almost 60% of overall demand in 2006. Herbicides are expected to register somewhat slower growth due to continued reliance on established products. Fungicides and other products account for a relatively small share of overall demand, but are expected to register faster than average growth due to proliferation of specialized repellents and more sophisticated products addressing lawn diseases.

-- Sarah

AeroGarden makes big screen debut

AeroGarden, the high-tech contraption that lets consumer grow plants in their kitchen sans dirt, is featured in the new movie, “I Am Legend” starring Will Smith. Scenes in this post-apocalypse drama show the main character growing vegetables in his dilapidated New York City digs.

-- Sarah

Some consumers dream of a green Christmas

Green gifts are all the rage for some eco-friendly consumers. But others think the trend hasn’t permeated public consciousness yet.

• Green hotter than red. Washington Post
• Green behind the scenes. San Diego Union-Tribune
• Not going green. Seattle Post-Intelligencer

-- Sarah