Zelenka Nursery Inc., one of the largest growers in the country, has been busy in the past few years. It acquired nurseries in the Southeast and has continued to develop its Natural Life brand of plants. I talked with marketing director George Atkinson about these topics and Kmart, one of Zelenka's major customers.

Q. How has the transition period gone since the purchase of Knowles & Sons Nursery and Windmill Nursery?

A. It's been a hectic 18 months for us. Two fantastic opportunities presented themselves and we were lucky to be able to take advantage of them both. The addition of these fine nurseries to the Zelenka family really helped us expand our product line, increase response time to our customers and open new markets we hadn't been able to serve before.

We're in the process of expanding each facility, adding new items and programs to the product assortments to better serve our customers. We're also trying to integrate our production systems into each facility while maintaining the best of their past practices.

Q. What has been the most challenging aspect of these acquisitions?

A. The most challenging aspect of any acquisition is to manage the changes that take place so that they're positive for your customers. As new systems were put into place we needed to make sure we met the needs of our customers.

With two transitions going on at once, this continues to be a great challenge. We didn't want to take on more than we could manage or we were bound to disappoint some of our customers.

I think we've been more successful at managing this at the Knowles operation than we were at Windmill. We tried to institute too much change all at once in the Windmill operation and that created some customer service challenges. We've refocused our efforts in those areas and feel we've fixed those issues as we come into our second spring season.

Q. How have consumers responded to the Natural Life program?

A. Great. Now that we have more than 1,000 independent garden centers participating in this program at some level, more Natural Life plants are getting into the market.

We're noticing a loyal following starting to develop through feedback from consumers calling our consumer help line and the response rate to our direct-mail program. We received almost 200 calls per month during peak season last year. In most cases consumers were just looking to clarify information on how to care for their plants. Our knowledgeable staff helped create a personal relationship between Natural Life and the consumer.

Consumers have also embraced the variety-specific care and plant information on the tags and signage. Many times they call for additional information. Sometimes they call because they have seen this tremendous information on Natural Life plants in the garden center and want to know if they can get the same information for our competitors' plants they bought. Other consumers call trying to find a specific plant and want to find a Natural Life retailer.

Our direct-mail program gets stronger every year. The response rate is almost three times the average response rate for direct-mail programs. This year we're adding a jumbo postcard option, which will lower the cost for the retailer to contact their target consumers.

Q. Why did you remove the requirement that participating retailers dedicate a certain amount of floor space to the program?

A. The requirement of dedicated space seemed to turn off retailers that thought we were trying to dictate to them what to do in their garden centers. We felt that, once they tried our program, the results would speak for themselves and they would want to devote at least that much space to our product in the future, if not more.

Q. What does it take for retailers to get maximum benefit from marketing programs like Natural Life?

A. The retailer needs to embrace the spirit of the program. By that I mean we've developed a number of elements to the program and retailers need to select those options that can work for them.

Just buying the product and putting it on the shelf won't maximize sales opportunities. But if the retailer chooses from the point-of-purchase elements available to effectively merchandise their Natural Life area, coupled with a few of the advertising options -- i.e. direct mail, billboards or television commercials -- consumers will quickly recognize the benefits of the program and develop loyalty to the brand.

All of the advertising and merchandising materials are geared around showing consumers how easy it is to be a successful gardener with Natural Life. If the retailer continues to support the Natural Life message through maintaining the display and driving consumers through the door with outside advertising efforts, consumers will see that Natural Life is different. They'll feel comfortable buying multiple selections within the brand. The tags and signage make selling the brand easy for retailers because they are so informative. They're silent salespeople.

Q. Most growers seem optimistic about a good year in 2002. How are sales shaping up so far?

A. Nicely. Preseason orders are slightly ahead of last year at this time. We've noticed that retailers are buying more conservatively than they have in the past. If the spring weather breaks in our favor we could see a mad scramble for product to fill in the holes they've created.

Q. How does the Kmart situation affect Zelenka? Did the Chapter 11 filing come at a good time?

A. For Zelenka the timing was good. We had not made any shipments prior to their filing. We are now able to establish terms under their new financing that will allow us to go forward this spring in a confident manner.

Q. How confident are you that Kmart's new management can turn the company around?

A. I can't speak for the company as a whole, but in the lawn and garden area they seem to be on the right track. They're becoming very aggressive in their approach to the market. The new management seems to be really trying to make things happen and jump-start sales. If this is the approach they're taking in all areas, I think Kmart could be on the road to recovery.

Q. Can we expect new marketing programs or acquisitions coming from Zelenka?

A. Zelenka is always working on new programs that will help retailers sell more product. For spring 2002, we're launching several new programs including All-America Daylilies, patio color, gaura butterfly series and several other new products, including three spectacular new clematis varieties. For 2003 we have even more exciting things planned, but it's too early to talk about them at this point.

As for acquisitions, Zelenka has developed a master strategic plan. Any acquisitions we make have to help us achieve our overall plan. We're not buying nurseries just for the sake of getting bigger, but rather targeting those that will help us achieve our objective of broadening our product line to serve our customers better. With that in mind, we're always looking for those opportunities that will help us achieve our goals ... and you never know when they might present themselves.

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© 2001 Branch-Smith Publishing