Trends: The right "stuff"
The sharpest knife in the drawer... No, we're not talking about my autobiography. Actually, this go-round, we're talking about literally sharp tools — and tools of various other sorts that your customer might seek during a visit to the garden center this Spring. Today's sophisticated shopper, the one who helps your business thrive, likely spends a portion of her television viewing tuned into HGTV. I say that because my wife is a sophisticated shopper, one who certainly helps our industry thrive (based on the proportion of our income devoted to beautifying Youngblood manor), and she spends much of her television viewing tuned into HGTV.

What she sees there tends to edify and inspire, from the home-improvement ideas to the instruments that are instrumental to turning said concepts into reality. This is where you come in. Once my wife is edified and inspired, she generally is also moved by a higher calling to act upon her newfound information and emotional stirring. The process is known in some circles as "shopping," which isn't, technically, a four-letter word — even if, from my perspective, it might as well be. You see, in our household, shopping has evolved into a team sport. She buys what she wants, then calls on me to "help" her find a proper place for it. When you're talking about a lamp, that's not so much a problem. Lighting fixtures pretty much go on tables. However, most home- and lawn-improvement shopping requires a measure of physical labor, a problem for a guy who is neither very physical nor inclined to want to labor on his day off.

But enough about lazy, 98-pound weaklings. Let's talk about your role in this grand scheme to ensure that we squander our children's inheritance. If you anticipate my wife's arrival at your garden center, you'll be better prepared to serve her needs. And, to do that, you need to know just what HGTV spells. As mentioned, one thing it spells is inspiration television viewing. It also spells multi-media exposure, what with the network's Web site, which recaps each program and embellishes it with online shopping tips. I would recommend that you click this link. Bear in mind that Susan Youngblood already has been clicking it. And — rumor has it — she's heading to your store to look for the items listed even as I type.

Speaking of typing, we at Branch-Smith Publishing have created a "new and improved" blog called the "Open Register." It includes contributions from staff members, guests and, hopefully, you. Go to Open Register to check it out. If you find a topic that interests/inspires/rankles you, by all means tell us why.

Puzzling pictures
Mixin' & matchin'... One of the pictures below is a puzzle. Find the correct one and then piece the product together again. If you do it correctly, congratulations are in order. What? You expected a cash prize? Like, whatever!

"What's new: Sustainable gardening"
Check the *BLOG*

Pick 'n Click
Chic seek... Do you need quick access to garden or gift items? These suppliers are on virtual call, ready to send you the information you seek. Click the company for e-reader service.

Achla Designs Advanced Water Gardens Allsop, Inc. Alpine Corporation ATLAS Glove Consumer Products, a Div. of LFS, Inc. Bamboo Accents Bartlett Bench & Wire, Inc. Benchmaster by Structural Plastics Best 1 Hummingbird Feeders Bio Organics Black River Nursery Braun Horticulture Carruth Studio, Inc. Charlie Cook Associates, Inc. Chicagoland Grows Clean Air Gardening Collier Metal Specialties, Inc. Country Originals, Inc. d'barro Pottery Danove Corporation DeWitt Co., Inc. Discount Pond Supplies, Inc. Dorothy Biddle Service Echo Valley Ecological Laboratories, Inc. Fabriscape Fafard Featherock, Inc. Garden Works Gardenware Gifts That Bloom

Good Directions, Inc. H. Potter Horticopia, Inc. Keystone Wholesale Little's Good Gloves Magnet Works Middle Tennessee Nurserymen's Association National Lawn & Garden Show New Creative Enterprises Novelty Manufacturing Co. Par A Sol Perfectly Natural Solutions Pioneer Plants, LLC Poly-Tex, Inc. Principle Plastics Red Carpet Studios Retail Service Company Riverside Enterprises Ruibal's Topiary Systems & Ironworks Savio Engineering, Inc. Stoney Creek Sunlight Supply, Inc. Tierra-Derco International Trevco Home and Garden Tula Hats WeatherPORT Global Shelters West County Gardener Winston Company Zoe's Tropicals ZooBox International LLC

 

"What's new: Sustainable gardening"
Check the *BLOG*

Oh, yeah, the riddle answer...
To get to the other slide.

 
To SUBSCRIBE: http://www.greenbeam.com/email/email_form.html
To UNSUBSCRIBE: Reply to this e-mail here.

TO CONTACT EDITOR YALE YOUNGBLOOD: yyoungblood@branchsmith.com

Reach the desktop of thousands of garden center professionals twice a month through the e-ZONE, contact Tiffany O'Kelley, tokelley@branchsmith.com or Lisa Troup, ltroup@branchsmith.com, and Teresa Werner, twerner@branchsmith.com.

(c) 2007 Branch-Smith Publishing. Before publishing or redistributing this information, visit http://www.greenbeam.com/copyright.html