Welcome back to the print Garden Center magazine

Hello, friend. It’s been a while.

It’s good to be back in this quarterly print capacity (if you’ve spent any time at gardencentermag.com, you know we never really went anywhere). There’s something special about information in print. The weight and the gloss; the smell of the paper and sound of the pages turning gives you a sense of solidity and reality. In my opinion, the medium is perfect for the garden center industry.

Like a magazine, what you give to your customers is meant to be enjoyed with all senses. You are selling a smell and a sound and a tactile experience as much as you are selling a plant. You are also selling reality. What your customer takes home from the store is something they’ll live with and care for. It is solid and ineffable. It is grounding in a very literal way. That’s something important in a digital era, where we scroll until we get slot machine eyes and an ever-increasing sense of anxiety.

This issue reaches you during spring, and we are also endeavoring to relieve some anxiety, particularly as it pertains to the state of the industry. You will find our fully interactive digital State of the Industry Report here. The bottom line: Yes, sales have slowed since the pandemic boom. But the trend is still going in the right direction. It’s not time to panic. It’s time to get motivated.

Here, you’ll hear from some of your industry colleagues who have been working in the same economy you have. They are from geographically diverse parts of the United States and offer some great insights into the challenges and the triumphs of running a garden center in the mid-2020s.

But the best way to get insights from other garden center leaders is to meet us in Nashville, Aug. 18 to 20, for the Garden Center Conference and Expo. We’ve been working hard to bring you the depth of learning opportunities you’ve come to expect, as well as an opportunity to celebrate the Top 100 garden centers and reconnect with old friends in Music City. You can register now at gardencenterconference.com.

I know that I can’t wait to pick up where we left off. I hope you are, too.