Cha-ching! (2-7)

Here's a simple -- and potentially very profitable -- way to help your customers create new garden scenes: Create them for them with "snapshot garden" opportunities at the store.

Rice's Nursery in North Canton, Ohio, offers such a program for DIY landscape customers, who seem to like the idea of coming to the store with a "look" they want created in the landscape and then loading up the vehicle with the plants and peripheral hard goods necessary to translate the scene at home. It certainly helps the cause that Rice's Nursery offers some of the "looks" in vignettes at the store.

"We have definitely noticed an increase in the DIY landscaping," said garden center manager Steve Maddox. " Even with a down economy, people are still investing in their home. Our 'Snapshot Gardening  Program' has been very successful because of this. I’m noticing that people are coming in during the week to have a “Snapshot Garden” created with the intent of installing it over the weekend. We love working with these people because they are looking to get it done now, and I have the program and plants to help them achieve that goal."

At the end of the day, he has something else, as well: plenty of "Cha-ching!"

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