B A Y V I E W F A R M & G A R D E N

Best sellers

The product mix carried by Bayview Farm & Garden in Langley, Wash., reflects its community. Located in a scenic, rural area of Whidby Island in the Puget Sound, the garden center serves farm and well-to-do residents, and both groups are passionate about their community and political and charitable causes.

Here is a list of the best-selling non-green goods sold by Bayview, this year's Garden Center Magazine and Western Expo Innovator Award winner.

Boot line
Maureen Rowley, co-owner of Bayview Farm & Garden, hesitated when she first ordered the Muck Boot line. It is significantly more expensive than the other clogs and boots she sells. The risk paid off. Her customers liked the extra support in the design and were willing to pay extra to make the line one of Rowley's best sellers. She sells the full boot, the half boot and the shoe, and she and her staff found them comfortable enough to wear around the garden center.
For more: Muck Boots, 31 Nancy Drive, Danbury, CT 06811; (877) 438-6825; www.muckbootcompany.com.

Hand-painted African candles
Rowley's store manager, Shirley Hendricson, found these brightly colored taper candles at the Seattle Gift Show. The candles tap into the cause-oriented conscience of Bayview's customers. They're crafted by a women's organization in South Africa and come with literature explaining that making the candles provides steady income and a flexible schedule for native South Africans. The designs are an eye-catching traditional African pattern in trendy colors. No two designs are exactly alike.
For more: Travelers Market, 2424 Arapahoe Ave., Suite 131, Boulder, CO 80302; phone/fax (720) 652-9319; www.travelersmarket.com.

Garden stakes
Rowley attended the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market show last January. She helped man a booth for her brother's wholesale company, Global Garden. In the next booth was the owner of Eurobound, who told her that she receives a lot of reorders on her Fun Bugs, which are garden stakes of cartoonish bugs with movable parts. Rowley thought the bugs were a little odd looking, but let herself be persuaded. By early April, with the spring season barely begun, Bayview was selling through its third order.
For more: Eurobound, 993 Pembridge Crescent, Kingston, Ontario K7P IM8, Canada; (877) 552-3876; fax (613) 384-5025.

Gloves
The Ultimate Summer Gloves is a personal favorite of Rowley's. She has converted her staff and, consequently, her customers. "It's flexible. It breathes, has a good grip, is easy to wash and they're inexpensive," she said. The gloves do not have seams and come in only two colors: pale yellow cloth dipped in green, and the less common gray gloves dipped in blue. A children's size has just been added to the line.
For more: Ultimate Goods, P.O. Box 4690, Rolling Bay, WA 98061; (888) 880-1997; fax (206) 842-3238; www.ultimategoods.com.

Potpourri
Rowley discovered the Judy Havelka Enterprises line of potpourri, candles and room sprays at Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market show and fell in love. The potpourri has larger pieces than many others, like orange and apple slices and pinecones. The scent mixes are pleasing and are more natural than perfumelike. And each scent (there are 40) matches the potpourri with candles and room spray. From a retail point of view, the POP materials, which include small tin wash basins to hold the potpourri, create an attractive display.
For more: Judy Havelka Enterprises, 5008 Stanley Keller Road, Fort Worth, TX 76117; (817) 222-1141; fax (817) 222-1966; www.havelka.com.

Food
Bayview Farm & Garden has an old red barn on its property from which it sells animal feed and even a few chicks. A pattern has developed over the years that reflects the store's close ties to the community. Customers buy the chicks and feed from Bayview, then later sell eggs to the store. Bayview carries a few other food products, but in limited supplies. It includes honey that's flower specific, such as fireweed honey and Chinese knotweed honey. A popular local cause is the Free Tibet movement. Bayview sells a small line of Tibetan sauces. A Tibetan couple in the region makes the sauces and donates 7 percent of the company's proceeds to the cause.

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. © 2002 Branch-Smith Publishing