Cha-ching! (1-27)

Plumline Nursery in Murrysville, Pa., was founded by the late Bill Tribou. To honor his father -- and to say thanks to the garden centers' customers who became part of Bill's legacy, Bill's son and new company owner Micah crafted Customer Appreciation Days last year.

And, boy, did they do some honoring and appreciating. "It was a wildly successful event," Micah said recently. "There was the smell of hamburgers grilling all day, free drinks, free sno-cones, a live band playing, fun games with great plant prizes, exciting seminars featuring local Emmy winner Doug Oster and a duck pond (with different discounts on the bottom of each duck). We also had free landscape 'designs from photos' by our design staff. People had to stand in line and take numbers for this one."

The garden center staff passed out free tote bags, seed packets and purple wristbands, to boot. "The seeds were forget-me-not packets imprinted with “In memory of Bill Tribou,'" Micah said. "The purple wristbands were like the yellow Livestrong ones and said “Bill Tribou: The Legend, Plumline Nursery.'"

This was a great cause and a great set of days that strengthened an important bond established long before. And it was a great way to ensure that bond will only grow. Cha-ching! 

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