Taking care of your customers can get you far in business, but a specific plan for expansion is also important. Russ Bedner, owner and CEO of Bedner’s Farm & Greenhouse, explains how he plants to capitalize on his company’s strengths to become an even greater asset to his community.
Garden Center: On top of retailing, I understand you also grow, deliver and install much of your own plant material. Can you tell me more about that and your other departments? Russ Bedner: We have the nursery end of things, which would include perennials, trees and shrubs. We also have a landscape division now, which started about four years ago, and that stemmed from the nursery division — people [were] coming in and wanting some larger trees and [saying], “Well we can’t take it home, can you deliver it?” And then we would deliver it and then we started getting questions [such as], “well, can you plant it for us too?” And then it was like, “Well, can you come and design some flower beds for us?” So it kind of evolved to now, where we’re a full-service landscaper. We do boulder walls, waterfalls, patios and outdoor living spaces. Annual-wise, we sell bedding flats and bedding plants. We have a hard good section to include chemicals and fertilizers, retail soil and decorative pieces for your garden, pottery and some other decorative pieces, [including] fairy garden stuff. One of our main things that we’re known for is our hanging basket combinations and our different sizes and styles of baskets that we carry. Another thing is our custom containers and container gardens. We come up with some very unusual mixes that people can’t find anywhere else, and we have a nice selection of six-inch and gallon material that is unusual that people tend to tend to come to us for. People know that they can come to us and find some unique things that they don’t see anywhere else.
GC: Could you tell me more about how your custom container department works? RB: We have some really unique pieces that people bring in that they’ve gotten in other parts of the country or even overseas. They’ll bring them in to us, and we will plant them for them and call them when they’re finished. They will either drop them off with us over winter, and since we actually grow on-site and we start planting things basically at the beginning of February, they can drop them off, and we can plant them up early or we can do them actually in season, in May, whenever [customers] come out to start their shopping. We have a form that we have all made out for them; if they want certain colors that they are looking for, or certain sunlight conditions or any certain plants that they want specifically in there. They can actually pick out the plants that they want in there if they want to, or it goes all the way to the other extreme and [they say] “Well, just give me some purples and pinks in there, and it’s for sun.” We have a lot of comments like “You guys do such an awesome job, I’ll let you just figure it out yourself.” So we have a few people on staff, one of whom is my mother, and she comes up with combinations and puts everything together. We have my mom and two other people on staff that take care of planting those things up. We get some huge planters — sometimes they’re too large for customers, and we’ll actually go out and pick them up for them and bring them back. Once they’re finished, we’ll deliver them back to them. So, we have that as an option, as well.
GC: I also noticed that you host an annual fall fest. How long have you been doing that? RB: It is newer. I’d say it’s around six years old. It started off fairly small, and it’s been growing ever since. It consists of a corn maze, and you can pick your own pumpkin. It’s a hay ride out into the fields and [guests] hop off, and there’s a bunch of different, smaller activities for the kids to do. There’s what we call a pumpkin launch, where there are big slingshots where people can shoot pumpkins into the ponds, and we have like all kinds of targets in the pond and around the pond they can try to hit. There’s a little barrel train that we take the smaller kids for a ride around the fields on, and then we have a two-acre corn maze that people can go through. We have a couple of different little mini mazes that the smaller kids can play in, as well.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BEDNER’S FARM & GREENHOUSE
GC: Do you have any big plans for the future, as far as renovations or additions? RB: I started making wine about four years ago and, probably within the next month or so, I’m going to start to sell it. So, one of the big plans for that is to open it up and have it as its own separate building, like a winery and an event center. People could come and rent the space if they wanted to hold a shower or a corporate event or something of that nature. Another thing that we’re looking to get into is a deli, so having some on-site food.
We actually have a food truck now, which we started two years. We’re getting our feet wet with it, seeing how that works. So, we’re taking baby steps in that respect, but we want to have a real place to eat. So [customers] will meet up with [friends], hang out, spend a few hours here and buy flowers together and stuff like that. Another thing that we’re going to have in the mix for the upcoming year is that we’re going to become more focused on [becoming] a community place to come and learn things. So we’re going to be holding more events and more educational seminars.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BEDNER’S FARM & GREENHOUSE
Our customer service is our main thing, I would say. We strive for far and beyond what most other retailers do.” – RUSS BEDNER, OWNER AND CEO, BEDNER’S FARM & GREENHOUSE
We’re looking into doing maybe some girl scout and boy scout [sessions] so they can actually come and gain some badges — more school field trips and corporate events that can utilize our farm to escape from the city. We want to have a structure that may be a part of the winery — we haven’t quite figured it out yet. We’ve got some good ideas, but, [the goal is] having that facility that we hold some classes and events in. Our mission is to become more community-oriented and to educate — we want to be like a service for the community.
GC: Any final thoughts on what sets Bedner’s apart? RB: Our customer service is our main thing, I would say. We strive for far and beyond what most other retailers do. We strive for that customer service, and that’s what we’ve built. That’s what my dad started with. People came to him just for his customer service and [his way] of finding what they needed when they wanted it and taking care of them. I still have customers that come to the store and they say, “Hey, I bought a Christmas tree off of your grandfather.” I’ve never even met my grandfather. He died before I was born. So that’s how long and loyal our customers have been with us.
White Oak Gardens
Features - THE TOP 100: No. 93 | White Oak Gardens
Moving beyond its comfort zone on pricing enabled the Cincinnati, Ohio, garden center to grow and improve its facilities to benefit customers.
White Oak updated and expanded its greenhouse space last year, adding facilities with panels that open and close with changing weather.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITE OAK GARDENS
In 1979, six years before White Oak Gardens CFO Evan Webeler was born, his father, Jeff, bought a small Cincinnati, Ohio, rose business. Webeler grew up in the industry, earned an economics degree and gained banking experience — but his sights were always set on the family-run independent garden center.
Garden Center: Your website invites people to “Come get the full experience.” Tell us about it.
Evan Webeler: We’re a full-service garden center with a brand-new greenhouse facility as of last year. We almost quadrupled the size of our covered greenhouses … to over 12,000 square feet, now paved and under automated roof panels that open and close with weather conditions.
We make sure to take care of each and every customer with our knowledgeable staff, which includes 12 Ohio Certified Nursery Technicians. We’re known for creating remarkable displays, including our straw bale designs and VW (Volkswagen) Bug, which we repaint multiple times each year.
We talk a lot about improving our customers’ quality of life through plants. We stay current on plant pests and design issues with Ohio State University Extension and keep ahead of customers’ problems.
GC: What inspired you to stay in the industry and work at White Oak Gardens? EW: I knew I always wanted to work in the business. I’ve been proud of what my parents built over the years with their long-tenured staff, and I’ve always looked up to the employees that worked here since I was little. It is very much a family-oriented culture.
I bring a financial background to the business. My father always said, “I can teach you all the horticulture you need to know, and you can teach me the business end of things.” I love working with my own family. My brother Andrew and my mother, Patty, work in the landscape division, White Oak Environmentals.
My wife, Renee, works in the greenhouse, and I get to be in the same office as my father.
GC: What are White Oak’s greatest challenges? EW: Developing business practices to manage and develope our employees as we continue to grow our sales and our staff. Also, continuing to constantly deliver a “wow” experience to our customers to increase customer count in a retail environment where everyone is predicting the downfall of brick-and-mortar retail locations. Lucky for us, we are a glass-and-outdoor retail establishment that connects people with nature.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITE OAK GARDENS
It’s amazing how much we as an industry instinctually fear raising prices and how little customers really take notice. Without some of the pricing changes we made, which directly reflected on our bottom line, we would not have gotten approved for financing for our $1.1 million rebuild/expansion of our greenhouses.” – EVAN WEBELER, CFO, WHITE OAK GARDENS
GC: What has been your greatest success to date? EW: Seeing the rebuild project come to fruition and how excited the community and the staff is to be in the new environment. Working with [consultants and peers in the industry] has given us many of our ideas and helped us implement pricing structures to ensure we are making money. It’s amazing how much we as an industry instinctually fear raising prices and how little customers really take notice. Without some of the pricing changes we made, which directly reflected on our bottom line, we would not have gotten approved for financing for our $1.1 million rebuild/expansion of our greenhouses.
GC: What categories are most popular at White Oak Gardens? EW: Important categories for us are, in order, annuals, shrubs, perennials, mulch, hardgoods and tropicals. Our annuals category has been the backbone of our growth and profitability, comprising almost 25 percent of our yearly sales. The largest growth has come in tropicals, pottery and outdoor living. We’ve focused on increasing our selection of houseplants and succulents and trying to recreate the beautifully styled pictures that are all over Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. The results have been quite noticeable in our financial statements.
GC: What do IGCs need to do to stay relevant and reach consumers? EW: Constantly be innovators and know how to get the word out about how awesome their place is. Focus on building a consistent brand that reflects well with consumers.
The store’s Volkswagen is painted multiple times a year and is a hit with customers.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITE OAK GARDENS
GC: What advice for do you have for other IGCs? EW: Don’t be afraid to take risks. Learn to communicate effectively with your family who work in the business and your staff, which all starts with being able to listen.
We’re going through a University of Cincinnati Goering Center course (through the Lindner College of Business) on how to successfully transition your business. That has opened our eyes to how much family, including employees, are hesitant to discuss important business matters.
Not until we all take the chance to invite others to share their thoughts, and actively listen to what they have to say, will we be able to make the right decisions for the overall health of the business.
Baker Garden & Gift
Features - THE TOP 100: No. 91 | Baker Garden & Gift
This semi-rural grower-retailer has its eyes set on the future with plans in progress to update facilities and possibly expand to a second retail location.
Owner Eric Baker says the company’s popular events and seminars were a big help when it came to making up for an unusually long winter earlier in the year.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BAKER GARDEN & GIFT
At the moment, “improvement” is the watchword for Baker Garden & Gift, which has served the gardeners of the Fargo, N.D., area since 1959 and looks to step up its presence in the market — both in terms of physical buildings and the company’s website.
Baker Garden & Gift’s main retail location is supplemented by a secondary property — added to the business in 1993 – used for growing plant material and as a home office for the company’s landscape service. President Eric Baker says that while his growing operation is limited in volume, the Fargo area has come to rely on Baker Garden & Gift for edibles and other smaller-scale plant material.
“As far as smaller stuff, we have about an acre of greenhouse production we supply ourselves with. We certainly buy-in a decent amount of stuff, too,” Baker says. “Fargo’s not necessarily rural, but compared to other cities, there are a lot of scratch gardeners, so we do a decent job on vegetables and making sure we have good material. I guess we’re a go-to for that. We sell a fair amount of fruit trees, and we’re still kind of farming-oriented, even though our city’s [more than] a quarter of a million people.”
Despite its commanding position in its market, Baker Garden & Gift wasn’t immune to the unseasonably cold weather that impacted many garden centers throughout the U.S. this spring.
A season of speedbumps
Spring 2018 brought Baker Garden & Gift a challenging pattern of weather. The long North Dakota winter made customers cautious and kept them out of their gardens, though Baker says this tends to happen in the Fargo area.
“Interesting enough, we’re so far north that people have a good memory,” he says. “There are going to be those impatient people that are like, ‘alright, I’m going to buy it and hold onto [plants until the weather improves].’ This year was just sluggish and temps were just below average, which forces people to hold out, as they should this far north.
“What I’ve been telling people is that our normal, super-busy six-week period turned into an extremely busy three-week period,” Baker adds. “Luckily, we had a fairly dry spring, so we had zero weekends where we got rained out. That kind of saved us. I’d say the cold slowed us down, but the dry part of the season actually enabled us to do as much as we did the year before, if not better.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF BAKER GARDEN & GIFT
I’m looking forward to seeing how other garden centers continue to elevate their platforms. For certain entities, the people who are innovative and changing, there’s certainly room for [learning] from younger generations going forward, and it’s not in every industry that you can say that. I’m looking forward to the future.” – ERIC BAKER, PRESIDENT, BAKER GARDEN & GIFT
Baker gives some credit for the strong year to Baker Garden & Gift’s calendar of well-attended events and seminars for providing off-season revenue that mitigated the compacted spring.
“One thing that’s probably going to push us over the top again this year is [that] we did quite a few seminars this last January, February and March,” he says. “I think, with the increased sales, doing these events, that supplemental income helped us push through the late spring season, cash flow-wise.”
Though they’re likely a long way from completion, plans are in the works to turn Baker Garden & Gift’s growing site into a second retail location.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BAKER GARDEN & GIFT
Taking the leap
Baker knows that a good sales year should be capitalized on. Long-term plans are in motion to upgrade the company’s 19-acre secondary site; including improvements to growing facilities, a new landscaping headquarters and, potentially, a second retail storefront. Last year, a new modern building was constructed to house the company’s landscape department, and Baker is in the process of shopping for complementary new greenhouse structures.
“I’m just in the process of updating some of our greenhouses at our grow facility — I’ll just call it our farm,” Baker says. “So, this might be a five-year plan for us, but eventually [the farm will] become retail for me. I’m pretty certain it’s just a matter of time before that happens. I’m trying to be strategic about buying the right house that’ll look nice in the retail environment.”
Baker has ambitions for his company that necessitate a physical expansion, though diligence and restraint are crucial when renovating facilities and opening new locations.
“Our push is going to be expansion. We’re in a smaller market, so I have to expand somewhat slowly,” Baker says. “Once that infrastructure gets put into place, I might dabble in potentially wholesaling and a few other things.”
This push for expansion also extends to Baker Garden & Gift’s online presence. Baker says he’s working with a local developer to refresh the company’s website to offer a more modern experience.
“The existing [site] we have is pretty plain jane and was developed about five years ago,” he says. “I’m good friends with Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis, and I kind of took their website as inspiration. Our website is going to have a kind of similar feel and shape to theirs.”
Whether launching a new location, improving greenhouses or revitalizing a website, Baker is dedicated to harnessing forward momentum and is excited to see what his and other businesses in the garden retail industry can accomplish.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how other garden centers continue to elevate their platforms,” he says. “For certain entities, the people who are innovative and changing, there’s certainly room for [learning] from younger generations going forward, and it’s not in every industry that you can say that. I’m looking forward to the future.”
Begick Nursery and Garden Center
Features - THE TOP 100: No. 79 | Begick Nursery and Garden Center
A full-service approach and a focus on outdoor living helps Begick Nursery and Garden Center carve out a comfortable market share and overcome poor weather.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BEGICK NURSERY AND GARDEN CENTER
With humble origins as a small landscaping business, Begick Nursery and Garden Centers understands the meaning of service. By providing everything from house-grown nursery stock to landscape installation and a fully-loaded retail facility, the Michigan IGC has claimed a prominent position in its market and continues to innovate on its product mix. We talked with General Manager Ray Schwall about Begick’s year so far and how it’s facing the future.
Garden Center: How does Begick Nursery and Garden Center set itself apart from its competition? Ray Schwall: I think the one real basic thing is that we’re a full-fledged garden center, and there really aren’t a lot of those around here. There are greenhouses that sell bedding plants and things like that, and then there’s the box stores that sell what they sell, but we’re an all-around garden center. We sell anything that’s got to do with your garden, your home, your yard, your patio, your outdoor living, and [products for] maintaining it. Power equipment and everything, we have it all. [Customers] can really come to rely on us for just about anything they need to take care of in their yard.
Getting its start as a small-scale landscape installation company, Begick Nursery and Garden Center has evolved into a full-service retailer offering house-grown shade trees and a robust outdoor living department.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BEGICK NURSERY AND GARDEN CENTER
PHOTO COURTESY OF BEGICK NURSERY AND GARDEN CENTER
PHOTO COURTESY OF BEGICK NURSERY AND GARDEN CENTER
GC: How has 2018 treated you so far? Was weather a challenge at all this spring? RS: Spring 2018 started out terrible, actually. April was very cold — just a wicked month. And that kind of put us behind the eight ball a little bit. But May [and June were] fantastic. We caught right back up, so that was nice. For one and a half days in April, we weren’t even open because the weather was so bad. We’re hot and dry right now, but we’ve been starting to get a few timely rains, so that’s definitely helped. But the month of July was very dry for us.
Plant material in general has had a good year, too. Perennials are still very good for us. Our annual business is still growing for us a little bit. We’re doing a lot of container gardening, too.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BEGICK Nursery And GARDEN CENTER
We sell anything that’s got to do with your garden, your home, your yard, your patio, your outdoor living and all of that. We sell it all, and [products for] maintaining it. Power equipment and everything, we have it all.”– RAY SCHWALL, GENERAL MANAGER, BEGICK NURSERY AND GARDEN CENTER
GC: Are there any big projects, improvements or new departments you’re looking forward to in the near future? RS: A large greenhouse addition that hopefully will come to fruition in a couple of years. What has really transformed us a lot in the last few years and has done well is the outdoor living category and selling patio furniture. We’ve become an exclusive Weber Grill dealer, and that just did fantastic for us this year. The furniture did very well for us this year, so that’s one category that has really exploded for us.
GC: Are there any other elements of the business that have done particularly well lately? RS: In late winter, we start seminars on Saturday mornings. We do about two seminars per day. We start at the end of February and they go through to the end of April. Towards the end is when we always have our container gardening seminar and that’s, by far, always the very best-attended, so you can see the interest. [People] want to know what’s new, what’s different in containers, what new flowers are out there. It’s just amazing how, year after year, it’s standing room only for that seminar. We’ve been doing seminars for a good ten years on Saturdays, and it was kind of interesting because the first few [events] started out a little quiet — you’ve got to build the momentum. But this year, we saw activity on every Saturday, except for the one when we had the storm. People were interested, you could see that they were hungry and wanted to get out and work in their yard.
Martin’s Home & Garden
Features - THE TOP 100: No. 78 | Martin’s Home & Garden
For Martin’s Home & Garden, top-quality plants and service have always been the foundation, but an expansion, key improvements and adapting to customers has helped spur growth.
The foundation of Martin’s is customer service, and the company’s second priority is having the best plants and selection.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN’S HOME & GARDEN
Like many successful independent garden centers, Martin’s Home & Garden started as a seasonal roadside stand. Founders John and Helen Martin began selling homegrown bedding plants and summer produce to residents of Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 1982.
Eleven years later, they went year-round with a new location and a complete garden center selection. Ten more years brought a move to a more central location, with their son Lester now managing the business, and Martin’s grew from 1 acre to 5.
Fast forward to Jan. 1, 2009, and Lester bought out his parents and became the sole owner of Martin’s Home & Garden at the age of 28. From 2003 until now, sales have nearly tripled. Martin’s employs 26 full-time, year-round employees at the single Murfreesboro location. Seasonal hires increase the total to 60 in April and May.
Set apart by a green heart and soul
When shoppers head to Martin’s Home & Garden from surrounding counties or make the 35-mile trek from downtown Nashville, they often have green goods in mind. “Our greenhouse department — annual bedding plants, vegetables, houseplants and tropicals — that’s the heart and soul of our business. That’s what we started on. That’s what we’re known for,” Martin says.
With selection and quality that he humbly states are second to none in the region, the greenhouse department generates one-third of the IGC’s revenue. The shrub/tree and perennial/herb departments earn praise for well-rounded, top-quality selections, but the greenhouse sets Martin’s apart.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN’S HOME & GARDEN
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN’S HOME & GARDEN
The best customer service in town
The foundation Martin’s parents laid still guides his business. “Since day one, my parents were very strongly set in their concept that if you take care of the customers, you’re going to be okay. We’ve tried to maintain that long-term mindset for 36 years. Putting our customers as top priority has been the key,” he says.
That founding philosophy was crucial to early success. “There were several plant retailers that were much bigger than we were, but we did everything we could to make sure customers were happy and successful,” he says. “And guess what? They came back the next year.” Now customers arrive expecting the area’s best service, and staff make sure they get it.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN’S HOME & GARDEN
“There were several plant retailers that were much bigger than we were, but we did everything we could to make sure customers were happy and successful. And guess what? They came back the next year.”— LESTER MARTIN, OWNER, MARTIN’S HOME & GARDEN
Revenue-building milestones
Martin cites two major accomplishments for boosting revenues. A 2011 retail greenhouse expansion increased the indoor sales area by 5,000 square feet. “That was a big thing in helping to increase the revenue flow, especially in early spring and going into the cooler season,” he says.
The second advance was a POS system in 2014. “That was our first point-of-sale system for the store,” Martin explains. “Going from the old-style, hand-run cash registers to a full-scale point-of-sale and inventory tracking system was a major change for us.” The gains in customer engagement and inventory management have been significant.
“We’re also pretty fortunate to be able to say we really didn’t take much of a hit during those recession years and recovery years. 2010 was one of our really, really great years,” Martin says.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN’S HOME & GARDEN
Strategy had a part to play as well as luck.
“The biggest key was focusing on affordable ticket items. When times got tough, people stayed at home and had staycations. We couldn’t sell a $3,000 fountain,” Martin says. “But with our primary product lines, we were able to offer a way for people to enjoy their landscape and garden and not be in over their head.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN’S HOME & GARDEN
Priorities for the future
Long-term strategy is under wraps, but Martin has numerous plans in action. His biggest challenge right now is figuring out how to handle traffic overflow during spring’s peak weeks. “We need about 50 percent more room for our parking lot,” he says.
With the area’s soaring housing market, plans include expanding shrubs and trees by 50 percent in the next 12 to 18 months. Perennials and herbs are doubling for spring 2019. Houseplants are another key expansion area.
“We want to really get those green goods departments up to where we feel they can be,” he says. “The hope is to increase revenue over the next two years by $250,000 to $300,000 because of those departments.”
“My whole philosophy is what I got passed down from my parents: Take care of the customers and have top-quality product. If you don’t focus on plants and try to have the best, it’s going to be tough,” Martin says. “Focus on the green side of things. Make sure you’ve got that down pat and offer top-quality plants — then add the things that go with it.”
Jolene Hansen
