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Fourteen years ago, Vicki and Max Carr started
Display and merchandising are the Carrs' specialty, but you won't find fancy end-caps at this garden center. That's because there are no aisles. None.
Instead, merchandise both indoors and out is displayed in groupings to mimic "garden rooms" with English, Italian and French themes and more. In fact, you might confuse the store for a botanical garden.
The layout accomplishes two main goals. One, it gives shoppers design ideas for their own gardens and, two, it invites people to stay longer.
"Some people stay here two or three hours. When that's the case, their purchases are bound to increase," Vicki said. "Women tell us that their husbands don't mind staying here and that's a real trick."
The garden rooms create space for customers to mingle. It's not unusual for people to bring friends from out of town to see the store, Vicki said. Through word of mouth,
Maintaining the look
When the store opened, Vicki designed all the vignettes and displays around the 3 1/2 acres of outdoor display and 13,000 square feet of indoor retail space.
Now she has a full-time and a part-time designer, Justin Thomas and Dave Ipock, respectively, to do indoor floral displays that include live plants, cut and dried flowers and artificial plants. Through the years, she has also grown to trust one employee, Nancy McReynolds, to create outdoor displays.
"I have one girl who really knows what I like and I really trust. That's hard to find," Vicki said. "We could do displays side-by-side and I don't think you could tell a difference in styles."
With no aisles and no benches, keeping inventory stocked can be a challenge. Persistently filling holes when merchandise is removed is key.
"If something is removed, replace it as soon as you can," Vicki said. "If you can find the exact duplicate of what was taken, then great. If not, find something close that still fits in with that display's theme."
Displays also get a major overhaul every day to make sure they are clean, neat and stocked with the latest merchandise.
Superior service
Customers love the store's displays, but sometimes find they aren't up to the challenge of re-creating them. For these people,
The container plantings run from $69-$400 (about half the cost is for the container, the other half for the plants).
"People will buy those items when given the opportunity. They want something big and beautiful, but they don't want to have to do the work," Vicki said.
Customers can also have
"Some homeowners have spent $20,000-$25,000 a year three years in a row," Vicki said. "They'll do one garden area one year and do another the next when they have more money."
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- Todd Davis