I was struck by how much the Innovator Award has evolved over the years as I spoke with the judges about each finalist. Years ago, the award winner was selected by our editorial staff. Now, a panel of retailing leaders selects the winner, with the staff acting as a tie-breaker if necessary.
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The Garden Center Magazine panel of advisers, which is made up of leading garden retailers from across the country (the whole gang is listed in the panel to the right), take the process seriously. They collectively supply names to be considered, and to be considered, someone on the board or the magazine staff must have personally visited the nominee’s store. After all, we can’t give an award to a store that hasn’t been vetted.
After we narrowed down the nominees to four finalists, I called each finalist and interviewed them, collecting financial information, store history and probing them on whatever it was that got them nominated in the first place. Then I called up the panelists one by one, made a pitch for each finalist and collected votes.
A serious matter
No one takes selecting a winner lightly, even those retailers who have a humorous nature. From what I can tell, every finalist has a sporting chance, no matter how small or unknown. Just a glance at past winners proves that point. The award has gone to a longstanding industry leader like Chalet last year, and just the previous year it went to unknown-outside-of-its-area (at the time) Dewayne’s Home & Garden Showplace.
What results is that the winning garden center has been scrutinized by and has garnered the approval of some of the best garden retailers in the country. They aren’t perfect retailers, but they are strong ones who are doing something different -- innovative, if you will -- and are willing to talk to the rest of the industry about how and why they retail the way they do.
Congratulations, Natural Gardener
Once again, Garden Market Expo is the sponsor of the Innovator Award presentation.
This year, we had such strong and diverse stores, I didn’t have a clue who would win. And I ultimately didn’t vote, because a clear majority of our panelists voted for Natural Gardener in Austin, Texas, that any vote I cast would have been moot.
This year’s winner is a remarkable one, definitely out of the ordinary. It’s part missionary zeal, part hard-headed business. Take a stroll with me through John Dromgoole’s winning store.
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June 2008