Cha-ching! (2-2)

When Gary and Mary Blondell opened Gary's Garden Mart in Severna Park, Md., in 2001, the garden center was, to put it conservatively, under-financed. In fact, in Year One, the store turned a profit of negative of .93 percent -- and Year Two's books saw the numbers dip to negative 7 percent.

So how, 10 years later, was Gary's Garden Mart named one of Garden Center magazine's Innovator Award winners (for a review of the center, click here)? The answer is couched in one word: Education.

In 2002, the couple enrolled in Garden Center University, a multi-year program offered through the American Nursery & Landscape Association and conducted by noted industry consultant Ian Baldwin. Some retailers would balk at committing time and money to education at such a critical point. But it proved to be a key element in Gary’s Gardens success.

“I really believe you’ve got to have the education, you’ve got to have the wherewithal to do these kinds of things and make these decisions,” Gary said. “And you’d better invest up front for [education], before you do anything else. Because any dollars after that, I really think, would be wasted.”

Their GCU education set Gary and Mary on the road to profitability. The lessons they learned there—and networking with other retailers—provided the tools they needed to thrive.

“We’re paying more and more attention to buying better and labor costs,” Mary said. “We watch more closely our cash flow and our margins and margin dollars. You’re always asking, ‘what’s the bottom line, and what are we netting?’”

These days, the answer to that question is "a tidy sum." Cha-ching!

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