Cheap Tricks

Jennifer Polanz

Creative containers
During our time on the Garden Centers of America Summer Tour in Milwaukee, we saw some really creative ways to plant up live goods. These really stood out among the typical pots, which in themselves are getting more exciting each year. Here are just a few that caught my eye.

1. Miniature gardens aren’t just for fairies and these weathered standing planters make great containers to house whatever your customers’ imagination can come up with (in this case, a dinosaur garden created by kids at Ebert’s Greenhouse Village in Ixonia, Wisconsin).

2. Borzynski’s Farm & Floral Market in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, is primarily a produce market that offers homemade baked goods, mixes and, of course, produce. But during peak spring and summer, they also have a garden center. They repurpose the many boxes they get from the produce side to plant up unique mixes.

3. This planter at Milaeger’s in Racine, Wisconsin, stopped shoppers in their tracks with its unique, weathered, textured look. Plant this up with something trailing and the customer who buys this will be the talk of the neighborhood.

4. We saw these colorful watering cans at several stops, but at Caan’s in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, they offered them already planted up and separately, which is nice if you’d like to go it alone. They’re an uber-colorful touch to an already beautiful mix.

5. Speaking of separate, how about offering your expert services to plant up these unique containers? K & W Greenery in Janesville, Wisconsin, does just that with these pretty woven baskets.

6. Nothing like suggestive selling, but that’s exactly what I thought when I saw this fun chalkboard container at Johnson’s Gardens in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. From teacher gifts to last-minute housewarmings, this makes a great option for many occasions.

Adding On Selling Up
As I walked around garden centers in Milwaukee for this year’s Garden Centers of America Summer Tour, I began to notice the cool additions some retailers had made to create add-on options for the sale. Of course, there are lots of ways to do this, but here are a few that I thought were notable that could be replicated most everywhere.

1. K&W Greenery in Janesville, Wisconsin sells burlap by the yard, which is brilliant considering about 75% of the projects on Pinterest involve burlap (that's only an estimate). They also offer it in smaller quantities in the basket. Prospect Hill (below) offers another great "off the roll" idea.

2. Most operations offer gift cards and this is a great add-on opportunity because studies show people who receive gift cards typically spend more than the card is worth. So don’t forget to let your customers know that gift cards are a great option for gifts, holidays or just because!

3. Okay, so this isn’t quite an add-on, but I think it’s a great idea. Caan’s in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, had a basket of free bird food samples in the birding section. As a budding birder myself, if your free food brings all the birds to the yard, I’ll be returning for the big bag soon.

4. This might take a little more effort, but Milaeger’s in Racine, Wisconsin, has expanded into growing microgreens, so they sell some at the garden center, as well as at the local markets. If you grow herbs or even veggies for the garden center, you may want to consider offering cut versions in a cooler, too.

5. Oftentimes landscape mat is sold in pre-cut amounts. I thought Prospect Hill Garden Center in New Berlin, Wisconsin, offered customers a great way to buy as much landscape mat as they needed by cutting it straight off the roll.

Fashion forward
Many garden centers are now carrying clothing and accessories as ways to expand the business and extend the seasons. During multiple stops on the Garden Centers of America Summer Tour in Milwaukee, I noticed there are a multitude of ways to display the ever-popular scarf. Here are five different ways to approach this tricky piece of fabric.

1. K&W Greenery in Janesville, Wisconsin, used a clean slat wall as a background and poles to accentuate the scarves.

2. These two displays at Milaeger’s in Racine, Wisconsin, show two more options of using hooks on a slat wall or displaying them flat on a table with other accessories. These two displays were close by and complemented each other well.

3. Again here, at Stein Gardens and Gifts in Milwaukee, we have the slat wall, but this time with a different hooking system that adds depth, as well as a shelf

above it for more accessories. The table pictured right with the black pole sat in front of the wall display for a complete department. GP