What's "in" - out there

If you dig long enough in the wallet, you’ll find that card. You know, the one that says you are a member of every regional, state and national horticulture association worth its acronyms. You probably are already making plans for your summer trade show tour – and might even be looking forward to it, save for the nagging notion that you’ll likely pass your primary competitor on every other aisle of every other show floor.

When people drive to your store, you’re confident they’ll find the best (fill in the blank) plants in the city. Besides that, they’ll be treated to customer service beyond reproach. And that’s saying nothing about your garden gift section, or your container selection, or the best ensemble of seeds this side of Old McDonald’s farm.

Indeed, you operate a veritable garden center mecca, because you carry/market/sell what every speaker at every industry conference tells you goes into a veritable garden center mecca.

But …

Is your garden center really different from all the other garden centers? How about more exciting? Better yet, how about more fun?

It is incumbent on 2010 vintage retailers to go above and beyond – and to look above and beyond – for sources they might not have even considered a year or two ago. Over the past several months, the Garden Center staff has ventured to the mall and to the grocery store and to the restaurant and to some super centers of various ilks. We’ve peeked over “the fence,” as it were, to find something you can do that you haven’t done to make your store a better destination.

Here is some of the best of what’s “out there” ...

// Music to my ears
More than a few retail stores pipe in music. Grocery stores almost always do it, and it while it can be annoying when the best part of a favorite song is interrupted by a brief burst of static followed by the announcement, “Spill on aisle 6,” a customer’s day can be made by hearing just one great song.

Most stores that play “DJ” choose theme-appropriate tunes. The upscale jewelry store might offer easy listening, while the teen-focused shop’s tunes have more bounce in the step. One of the better examples of music that we found was at the outdoor super center, Cabela’s, which mixed an array of festive tunes with intermittent announcements about things going on at the store. In baseball, that’s called hitting a double.

// TV or not TV, that is the question
Actually, there shouldn’t be a question at all. Closed-circuit televisions can serve a multitude of purposes, not the least of which is freeing a staffer to do something other than answer the same question about a product 77 times a day.

There’s another bonus to having screens marketing various products or services throughout the store: You can get your staff involved in something creative, should you stay in-house with the production (thus reinforcing that you appreciate their talents).

// Look! Up in the sky!
Customers remember stores for a variety of reasons. Customers rarely forget stores with distinctive hallmark “things.” One store we visited has a vintage yellow car at the entrance. A vastly popular pizza restaurant in Waco, Texas, has a 1920s fire truck parked in the lot that everyone who drives by sees (over and over, thus creating a brand for the store). You might wonder why there’s a real, small airplane hanging from Cabela’s ceiling, but you always remember there’s a real, small airplane hanging from Cabela’s ceiling.

Animated, robotic animal greeters, likewise, are “different.” Ditto, the 6-foot, 9-inch Elvis impersonator that appears every Thursday night at  one of the local eateries in Fort Worth, Texas. Is he memorable because he’s 6-9, or is he memorable because he’s Elvis? Does it matter? The restaurant’s customers love him tender and love him true – and love the place, as well.

// Tanks for the memories
Something about fish swimming in an aquarium is hypnotic. Space limitations might put the kibosh on the mega set-ups you’ll see at the big outdoor stores, but there’s nothing that would preclude a 20-gallon tank full of colorful water creatures darting to and fro – maybe as the customer first walks in. One caution about the fro, though: One store we visited said you need to be sure to put a lid on the tank when you deal with fish that are inclined to jump. The staff found out the hard way when two of the store’s pets, Romeo and Juliet, apparently decided to carry out that double-suicide vow after their parents got wind of their courtship.


// Sing a him of praise (or a her)
Practically every retail store has an “Employee of the Week (or Month)” promo sign posted on the grounds. Do you let the customers vote for said honor? Several mall stores do this, thus creating two positives for the business: (1) Staff members go an extra mile to earn the award and pick up the customer service a level. (2) Customers create a bond with the staffers they support. It’s win-win.

// Welcome, Matt
Several stores we visited set up special sections with distinctive themes – and then made sure they were Special Sections! with Distinctive Themes! There is a “Welcome to Tent City” or a “You are now entering paradise” sign posted at the area’s entrance. Then care is given to ensure the section has an “out of the ordinary” look and feel. Garden centers can do this to their birding and nature sections (“Home Tweet Home”) or to their outdoor living area (“Warning: Relaxing Area Ahead”). Go ahead and steal both of those, by the way. We don’t mind.

// Just kidding
Most retailers, and certainly most garden centers, entertain regular customers who have children. To keep these adult shoppers in the store longer, store managers create a “Kid’s Corner,” with child-riffic items that encourage interaction and, hopefully, sales. This could be a long-term boon to your business, as it makes shopping just as fun for the young-uns as for Mom, even as it cultivates, as it were, a new generation of gardening enthusiasts. Just don’t forget the gumball machines. Almost everyone loves gumballs, and kids think a place that offers gumballs is “way better” than a place that doesn’t.


// A thousand words are worth a picture
Fill in this blank: “He went to …” If you said, “Jared,” Jared and all his minions thank you. So does the person who came up with a slogan so memorable that it probably earned him/her a lot of money – and a few more marketing gigs.

Another store with a memorable slogan is Wendy’s, even if the saying “Where’s the Beef?” hasn’t appeared regularly on air since 1985. Taco Bell urges its customers to “Think outside the bun.” And if you have children, they know “It’s good to be a Toys R Us kid.”

A slogan probably won’t make or break you, but if you and the staff can come up with something the locals never forget, they’ll probably never forget what store came up with the slogan.


// You are here
If you run a rather big store – or even if your smaller store is nook-and-cranny laden, a map posted at the entrance showing where everything of importance is located will be a welcome sight to most customers, especially first-timers. Six Flags over Texas, the amusement park chain, has clever illustrated maps that not only pinpoint pertinent locales but make the starting point for finding them a fun experience.

// We have a flag on the play
For those who aren’t big football fans, the preceding lead-in line means the officials have called a penalty on one of the teams. If you operate an outdoor business, especially in the heartland, you’re going to penalize yourself if you don’t proudly display a big American flag at the center’s entrance. You get bonus points for also flying a state flag or the company flag. The lion’s share of your customers is cut from a red, white and blue cloth; they are proud of their country, and they like to shop at stores that share that pride.

// We’ve reached this technological conclusion
Some store operators with whom we visited say they realize that not everything on the customer’s shopping list is carried among the in-store inventory. Not a problem; they set up computer kiosks throughout the store, so shoppers can order the goods online. Then they offer free delivery when the items arrive.

// It's in the bag
Every retailer has a collection of items that, um, aren’t selling so well. The status that gets quo’d at most places is for these items to be marked down and sold in a “sale” area or clearance bin. How about this option: One store bags up like items (and even some unlike items)  and sells the package – for a collective more than the parts would fetch sold separately.
 

// Pssssst. Yeah, you. You Know You Want to Buy Me
One of the better things almost every grocery store does these days is entice the person in line at the checkout stand with small items she probably doesn’t need, but can’t resist, anyway. If I had a dollar for every pack of gum I have bought my now 20-year-old daughter because she saw it beckoning us as we waited to check out … well, I probably could own the gum company by now.

Plus, if you tout these items with notes such as, “Did you forget gloves?” or “Garden refreshments” – something to trigger an impulse – you’ll likely add something else to the original sale.

// My house is your house
If you already have a conference room, and you use it for staff meetings and the like, good for you. If you can create or have created one outside, even better. Here’s why: One store we visited shares its conference room regularly with civic groups in the area. Then it gives members of the groups a full (shopping) run of the place after normal hours. Imagine how enticing an outdoor conference area surrounded by plants and decorative items might be to that end.

// Set sale
There’s something about that second word that draws folks like a magnet. Whatever it is my wife buys, if she buys it “on sale,” she figures she recorded a victory. One savvy retailer on our tour puts everything that’s discounted in one small part of the building and labels the area “Bargain Corner.” This accomplishes several aims, notably routing the cost-conscious consumer to a familiar place – and MORE NOTABLY boosting the perceived value of the remainder of the items in the store.

// In living color
We wrap up our “outside the bubble” tour with something that any of you can do, regardless of size or locale – and something that two of your least-favorite competitors (Lowe’s and The Home Depot) have done very well: a theme color. One advantage you have over the generic retailer is that everything you market appeals to the senses.  Think how much more alluring your center will be if it’s subliminally and consistently attractive to the eyes.

While you’re at it, think, too, how much fun your garden center is about to become now that you’ve “taken a peek” over the fence. 

DO spruce up your store; DON'T delay
Attention-getting store design and visual merchandising can give you a major advantage over your competition. You may not have deep pockets (who does these days?), but creativity, initiative and a sense of humor don’t carry a price tag.

To help you get started, the experts at Chute Gerdeman Retail offer the following “Do’s” and “Don’ts” to help you take a critical look at your center and prepare for a successful future.

DO:

• Cross-merchandise items that “make sense” together. Convince customers that they need all the products, even though they may not. This works very well in garden merchandising (plant + pot + fertilizer + cute watering can = sales).
• Look for interesting pieces that can act as fixtures and add personality to your space.
• Try spotlighting to emphasize new or promotional merchandise. Focus spotlights on the product and crisscross the beams of light so that lighting hits the merchandise evenly. Make sure the lights are not aimed to shine in customers’ eyes.
• Re-arrange product displays every few months (or more often) to freshen up the store.
• Bring residential fixtures or furniture into the store. Baker’s racks, picnic tables, rocking chairs all work to make your customer feel at home.
• Vintage is in, and retailers are searching tag sales, coming up with clever and inexpensive ways to display merchandise. An old wheelbarrow, trellis or ladder could be fun and adds visual interest.
• Be conversational. Why not add a large blackboard calendar to the wall and populate it with timely tips? Or better yet, ask a question; “Time to prune your Japanese maple?” “Planting your annuals this week?” Of course, what better area to display pruning shears or other merchandise tied to your calendar items!
• Give ‘em space. Make the circulation route easy to follow and as expansive as the space will allow.
• Appeal to all the senses. Enhance the mood with scent.
• Add entertainment. How about a repotting day? Have a table set up where customers can bring in their plants and repot. Sell them the pots and let them use the soil at no charge. Or invite a landscape expert in to talk about cutting gardens, or butterfly gardens.
• Accommodate the customer’s non-shopping companion. Give this special someone a place to hang out. This could be as simple as a comfortable seating area for the customer’s spouse, child, parent or friend.

DON’T:

• Don’t assume your customer knows the first thing about gardening. Blend the shopping experience with an educational component that both broadens product knowledge and fosters brand loyalty.
• Don’t assume products will sell without enhancing the display by adding appropriate props that make sense.
• On the other hand, don’t overpower the merchandise with visuals and graphics. The merchandise should always be the hero, and visuals and graphics should enhance.
• Don’t take it too seriously. Have fun, and let it show in your store displays.
  
  Guest columnist Bess Anderson is director of visual strategy for Columbus, Ohio-based Chute Gerdeman Retail. Founded in 1989, the retail branding and design firm has been recognized as one of the industry’s “Most Exciting Design Firms” by the readers of DDI magazine 12 years in a row. Clients include BioLab, Levi Strauss, Mattel, M&M’S/Mars, Target, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, and Shopko. www.chutegerdeman.com