Monday, August 17
7:00 am - 6:00 pm
IGC Show Chicagoland Garden Center Tour
Tour trend-setting independent garden centers in and around Chicago: Gethsemane Garden Center, Knupper Nursery and Platt Hill Nursery. You’ll also tour and lunch at the famous display gardens at Ball Hort’s headquarters. Plus there will be a special stop at a retailing innovator, one of the country’s largest IKEA stores. Lunch and bus transportation included.
Conducted by Garden Centers of America and The Garden Center Group
8:30 am – 3:45 pm
IGC Show Chicago Green Roof Tour
Chicago is famous for its leadership in the eco-movement of green roofs. Take this opportunity to get a special showing of leading green roof buildings – many not normally open to the public. Planned stops include City Hall, Chicago Cultural Center - Gallery 3, Chicago's Smart Home @ Museum of Science and Industry (a three-story modular fully green home) and Chicago Center for Green Technology. Plus, the Chicago Mayor’s office will make a special welcome to our group. Box lunch and bus transportation included.
Conducted by Illinois Green Industry Association
Tuesday, August 18
10:00 am – 12 noon
STORE MANAGEMENT 2 Hour WORKSHOP: If General Patton Ran Your Garden Center
There is a war going on out there in retail! And while things are pretty good for garden centers, we are still challenged. Should an IGC defend their market position, become an attacker, a flanker or even a guerrilla warrior? This interactive workshop will help upper store management and owners define a proper strategy and the tactics necessary to carry it out. Using stories and experiences of WWII legend General George S. Patton, Tom Shay leads participants in this most useful exercise.
Tom Shay, retail & business consultant and Nursery Retailer columnist.
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS 2 Hour WORKSHOP: What in the World is going on with IGCs?
International globetrotter and garden retail consultant John Stanley reports on the hottest trends spotted during his travels the world over, from Japan to South Africa and Australia to Europe. What are world’s leading IGCs doing and what have they stopped doing? This fast paced presentation will provide you with a suitcase of the latest ideas from across the continents and wow your customers into spending more.
John Stanley, global garden retail expert, and Garden Chic columnist
CONSUMER TRENDS 2 Hour WORKSHOP: How to Capture the Gen X/Y Gardener for Your Store
In a continuation of the IGC Show’s ground-breaking proprietary consumer study, industry researcher Kip Creel presents a critically important workshop that will show how to increase your profits by mounting specialized efforts to attract the younger gardener to your store. Learn the latest results from this year’s research update from the same young consumers we met with last year. Learn how changes in the economy will affect their garden purchasing habits and how you can better appeal to their needs and interests. Note: This session is repeated on Thursday.
Kip Creel, Industry Expert and IGC Show Researcher
DISPLAYING PLANTS 2 Hour WORKSHOP: Basics Retailers Can’t Live Without
In an unprecedented event, the IGC show brings together two of the industry’s premier plant design experts. With 65% of a typical garden center’s sales in trees, shrubs, flowers and perennials, retailers need to adopt merchandising techniques that help sell more! Join Aaron Shiver and Judy Sharpton to examine the critical principals of today’s plant merchandising. In this 2-hour workshop Aaron will utilize the popular Monrovia boutique to present the basics for a season-long display that sells brands, plus discuss concepts for in-ground plantings and cross-selling. Then Judy will describe how the Proven Winners destination area allows garden centers with new employees to have a turn-key set of practices that sell multiple sizes of annuals, mixed containers, hanging baskets and add-ons like fertilizer and irrigation.
Aaron Shiver, Plant Display Expert, Monrovia ; Judy Sharpton, Plant Display Expert, Growing Places
Wednesday, August 19
11:00 am – 12 noon
STORE MANAGEMENT: Go for NO! - How to Use the Greatest Success Strategy to Profit
One of the single greatest things a retailer can do is to learn how to harness the power of hearing "no" from customers more often! This counter-intuitive store sales strategy will literally have you looking at your garden center in an entirely new way and getting amazing results because of it! Turn “No” into a powerful weapon that will march your store sales to unbelievable heights!
Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz retail sales training experts.
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS: Bringing the English Touch to Your Garden Center
Many regard the U.K. as not only the home of gardening, but also the cutting edge leader in garden center design and merchandising. Brit John Connel brings his unique prospective from having lived and worked in both the U.S. and the U.K. Hear John’s report on the latest and coolest from across the pond. He will tell you how “locally sourced” has become a hot consumer buzz and how U.K. garden centers are cashing in on it – and how you can do the same!
John Connel, international garden retail expert, former Scotts-Miracle-Gro U.S. IGC specialist.
CONSUMER TRENDS: What is Going to be the New “Black”?
Yesterday we sold plants, but today plants have taken a back seat in much of our marketing and promotion. It seems nobody really cares about the plants that are marketed and branded so intensely; we simply sell a red geranium, and our customers are happy. Wait a minute! It’s your customer who is asking for that red geranium, and although she may not care about the name or brand, it had better perform well for her! But with the incredible deluge of new plants, all wonderfully marketed and labeled, how does she know what to buy? When she walks in the door, you may think you are selling lifestyle, but what you are also selling is value. Our industry is challenged with too many plants, too few gardeners and too little excitement about gardening itself. IGCs have a vested responsibility to make sense of the chaos out there. Let’s talk about it!
Josh Rubin, Founder and Editor, coolhunting.com
DISPLAYING PLANTS: Seasonal Transitions in the Outside Sales Area
A central part of every sound merchandising plan is the transition from one season to the next. See how Aaron Shiver uses banners, seasonal colors and different types of plants to change the tree and shrub area from spring to fall. Trees and shrubs account for a large part of annual sales, especially in spring. Garden centers need to understand how to merchandise these products to make a greater connection to the consumer.
Aaron Shiver, Plant Display Expert, Monrovia
PROFIT WITH PLANTS: Gardening is a Four Letter Word
Yesterday we sold plants, but today plants have taken a back seat in much of our marketing and promotion. It seems nobody really cares about the plants that are marketed and branded so intensely; we simply sell a red geranium, and our customers are happy. Wait a minute! It’s your customer who is asking for that red geranium, and although she may not care about the name or brand, it had better perform well for her! But with the incredible deluge of new plants, all wonderfully marketed and labeled, how does she know what to buy? When she walks in the door, you may think you are selling lifestyle, but what you are also selling is value. Our industry is challenged with too many plants, too few gardeners and too little excitement about gardening itself. IGCs have a vested responsibility to make sense of the chaos out there. Let’s talk about it!
Alan Armitage, America’s Foremost Gardening and Plant Authority
ECO CHIC GREEN TRENDS: Kitchen Gardening
The “slow food” movement has encouraged foodies to support local farmers and eat seasonally. Many “locavores” are making the transition from gourmet to gardener, getting out into the garden for the first time to grow some of the local, seasonal produce they crave. Families on a tight budget are also getting into growing their own food as a way to stretch their grocery budget, spend more time at home with the family, and get some free exercise. Organic and eco-friendly methods are more important to kitchen gardeners than any other group. Get some ideas for how to turn your garden center into an eco-friendly one-stop-shop for culinary gardeners. We'll cover organic fertilizers, pest and disease controls, and weed controls, with some fresh ideas for connecting the green movement and the local food movement at your garden center.
Amy Stewart, Author & Green Expert and Garden Chic Columnist
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
STORE MANAGEMENT: Sales Floor Tweaks to Increase Profits
Look at all that square footage your store occupies. Not to mention the cubic footage! Are you getting the most for the rent or mortgage payment you make each month? Sales per square foot and average sales ticket are two of the most critical numbers in the management of a business. Join this presentation to see how you can make your sales floor work even harder for you.
Tom Shay, retail & business consultant and Nursery Retailer columnist.
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS: Lessons from Around the World on Grabbing the Consumer Eye
Traditional retail marketing techniques do not excite the customer any more. What’s an IGC to do? International IGC expert John Stanley tells you how to attract new and younger customers into your garden center and rapidly increase your sales. With examples from successful efforts around the world, you’ll learn that loyalty programs are now old news, and how to really keep customers loyal. Jump ahead of your competition by latching onto these secrets of IGC success from the four corners of the globe.
John Stanley, global garden retail expert, and Garden Chic columnist.
CONSUMER TRENDS: Emerging Retail Trends
With years of experience in the industry, Clint Albin will outline where he sees the future direction for garden center retailers. Find out how the cities, towns and communities of the future will help sell more plants. See how the creation of a “Food Gardening Department” will allow retailers to tap into an important societal shift. Hear how changes in consumer demand will change the way garden centers sell a wide range of products to new and existing consumers.
Clint Albin, IGC Trends Expert, and Garden Chic columnist.
DISPLAYING PLANTS: Annuals and Perennials: From Spring to Summer
Based on Spring 2009 research, Judy Sharpton will provide real life examples of the best way to help customers better understand that annual flowers are still a central part of the summer planting cycle by seeing the transition of the flowers and perennial section from spring to summer. Annual flowers and perennials continue to be a core part of the items purchased and planted during the spring season. Would you like to better understand how to create displays that sell more products at higher margins? If so this is the session for you.
Judy Sharpton, Plant Display Expert, Growing Places
PROFIT WITH PLANTS: Bringing Professional Design Principles to the Home Garden
This session is a must for garden centers that are looking for the next trend in plants and plant combinations. Garden consumers get design envy as they look at glossy pictures in magazines and have visions of recreating those images. There are a few key design principles for those that are stuck or afraid to take the first step. Employ these principles in your design and you are on your way. This is by no means a complete immersion into the world of design, but a glimpse and an inspiration for those who might not have that insight.
Dan Benarcik, Plant Curator, Chanticleer Gardens
ECO CHIC GREEN TRENDS: Your Garden Center Needs a Green Roof!
Garden centers can become “green centers” if we “walk the talk.” Ernest Wertheim, the grandfather of modern garden center design, will discuss the value and benefits of a "green roof" in a garden center and how such a roof can be accomplished. This presentation will cover the various construction methods and systems, irrigation, drainage, growing media, appropriate plant materials and how such a demonstration might increase sales. Issues related to combining green roofs and roof gardens will also be addressed.
Ernest Wertheim, Principal, Wertheim, Van Der Ploeg & Klemeyer
3:15 pm – 4:15 pm
STORE MANAGEMENT: Everything You Believe about Making Money May be all Wrong
Face it, these are challenging times! Industry consultant Sid Raisch digs into the dynamics of how the IGC business works and the nuances that make it work, rather than what we believe works, but isn't really working that well. Learn from what Sid has seen working really well in some of the most profitable garden centers in the country.
Sid Raisch, IGC store management and business consultant.
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS: New Perspectives from the Retail Maverick
If you were fascinated by him last year and want to get charged up again, or you missed him and want to see what makes him so special, here’s you big chance! Jim Bradley, the driving visionary behind the remarkably successful Mid Ulster Garden Centre in Northern Ireland, returns to the IGC Show to reveal his unconventional and highly effective strategies that have gained international recognition for his maverick merchandising approach. Hear his latest inspirations that make his Irish garden center one of the world’s best. Learn how he never sorts plants by botanical plant names. Instead, his entire store is designed around color and theatrics. You will leave stimulated and excited, and full of ideas to add the sizzle to your store!
Jim Bradley, IGC Merchandising Expert and Owner, Mid Ulster Garden Centre, and Garden Chic Columnist.
CONSUMER TRENDS: Staying Relevant with Today’s Consumers
For many of our customers (and non-customers), gardening is perceived as hard work, expensive and time consuming. Reversing these assumptions may be as easy changing our language and tweaking our marketing. Today, gardening is as relevant as ever and at the end of this session you’ll be equipped with compelling ways to tell your story to a new and changing audience.
Bill Calkins, Former Industry Journalist and IGC Specialist – Ball Hort.
DISPLAYING PLANTS: Selling Real Christmas
Many of today’s consumers are looking for a real Christmas. And they are willing to spend to have one. Watch as Aaron creates a department within a department and transitions the outside sales area from fall to Christmas holiday. Retailers will leave this session a better understanding of the sales potential for live product that is sold in the outside sales area at Christmas.
Aaron Shiver, Plant Display Expert, Monrovia
PROFITING WITH PLANTS: Should Retailers Be Growers?
Why should you grow from seed, plugs and liners when you can bring in pre-finished and finished plant material? During this session our panel of expert retailers will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of buying product verses growing it yourself. Topics will include labor and material costs, financial impact and a variety of other considerations.
Panelists: Don Riddle, Homestead Gardens; Sandi Mc Donald, Hillermann Nursery & Florist and Larry Thalman, Cahlet. Moderator: Jeff Warschauer, Nexus.
ECO CHIC GREEN TRENDS: Ecological Perspective for Marketing Plants
Make money selling plants by retailing them with the ideas of sustainability, ecology and reduced consumption – all the while reinforcing aesthetics as a primary goal. Natives are not just a trend; they are climatically and ecologically suited to a region. Why is this important? With dwindling forage for insects and wildlife, natives are a fundamental building block of a strong regional bio system. Succulents are sitting on shelves in every garden center across the country, often as add-ons or impulse items. This must change. And why aren't the architecture and design elements of succulents being promoted? Once planted, succulents require virtually no care or input as water and fertility needs are virtually nonexistent.
Dan Benarcik, Plant Curator, Chanticleer Gardens
Thursday, August 20
11:00 am – 12 noon
STORE MANAGEMENT: Challenge Your People to Be Their Best!
Learn how to drive sales and achieve outstanding team performance with your garden center team. Getting others to produce at peak levels on a consistent basis is a major challenge, but not impossible… if you know how! In this dynamic session Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz share specific proven techniques designed to get people outside their “comfort zones” and reach breakthrough performance. Discover how to shift focus from results to behaviors. Establish non-negotiable standards for the team. Finally, why owners & managers must celebrate failure as well as success.
Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz, retail sales training experts
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS: Are You Dying for Ideas?
World-renowned IGC expert Jim Bradley demonstrates the critical importance of innovation and creativity in the garden center environment. Many IGCs suffer from a dullness and lack of pizzazz. Learn Jim’s tips on how to refresh and stimulate your team. This is not textbook theory, but actual steps that Jim has seen succeed big-time in his highly successful garden center. Go home recharged, full of ideas for your store and brimming with techniques to jump-start your team’s creativity!
Jim Bradley, IGC Merchandising Expert and Owner, Mid Ulster Garden Centre, and Garden Chic Columnist
CONSUMER TRENDS: How to Capture the Gen X/Y Gardener for Your Store
In a continuation of the IGC Show’s ground-breaking proprietary consumer study, industry researcher Kip Creel presents a critically important workshop that will show how to increase your profits by mounting specialized efforts to attract the younger gardener to your store. Learn the latest results from this year’s research update from the same young consumers we met with last year. Learn how changes in the economy will affect their garden purchasing habits and how you can better appeal to their needs and interests. Note: This session is repeated on Tuesday.
Kip Creel, Industry Expert and IGC Show Researcher
DISPLAYING PLANTS: Extending the Season and Making CRAZY Cash
This session will show retailers great ways to make the annuals and perennials area a “cash cow” during the 4th of July. Beyond a simple red, white and blue theme, discover the secrets to complete merchandising “after” the spring. Consumers are still willing to buy but retailers might not be presenting the product the way they would like to see it. If you have ever asked the question, “How do I extend my prime selling season?” this is a “do not miss” session!
Judy Sharpton, Plant Display Expert, Growing Places
PROFIT WITH PLANTS: Who Wants Native Plants if they are Weeds?
While it may have started as a grassroots movement by concerned people, today native plants are an important market niche. The problem is, many people still equate natives with weeds. Yet there are hundreds of exceptional ornamental native species. This session looks at dozens of native plants available to the retailer that should be an important part of your inventory.
Alan Armitage, America’s Foremost Gardening and Plant Authority
ECO CHIC GREEN TRENDS: Cashing in on the Grow Your Own Movement!
Get an inside look from U.K. IGC expert John Connel at how English garden centers are cashing in on the big interest by consumers to grow their own vegetables and herbs. See exciting merchandising, marketing and display ideas from leading garden centers across the pond. Learn how you can do the same here in the U.S.!
John Connel, International Garden Retail Expert, formerly Scotts-Miracle-Gro US IGC specialist
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Store Management: Using Internet Social Networking to Grow Your Business
Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the new media for communication, information sharing and keeping up with family and friends. The Internet has become an indispensable tool for consumers to research, communicate, share and transact. Garden center are not only expected to have a web site, they're expected to keep it current, relevant and useful. Moreover, they're expected to have an online presence beyond their own site. In this session we will look at today's online consumer behavior and a variety of tools that you can use to create or improve the experience you give them. Join Josh Rubin to see what the internet and social networking can do to make more money for your store.
Josh Rubin, Founder and Editor, coolhunting.com
INTERNATIONAL TRENDS: Garden Center Reinventing Ideas from the U.K.
U.K. IGC expert John Connel takes you on a journey through cutting-edge British garden centers that have mounted the challenge of re-inventing themselves. See and hear real examples of how what was once considered a “garden center” has dramatically changed outside of the U.S. Benefit from John’s insights on how to bring innovation and a fresh approach to your store! Hold on and be prepared to be excited.
John Connel, International Garden Retail Expert, former Scotts-Miracle-Gro U.S. IGC specialist
DISPLAYING PLANTS: Ask the Experts
Join Judy and Aaron as they answer all your questions about merchandising, plant selections, and displays. Bring notes and photos on those special challenges you have back at the store. They’ll send you home with ample solutions!
Judy Sharpton, Plant Display Expert, Growing Places and Aaron Shiver, Plant Display Expert, Monrovia
PROFIT WITH PLANTS: Containers: Pots with a Purpose
Container gardening as a consumer trend is going to continue to grow in popularity, but there are some changes coming to the marketplace. The future of this dynamic growth category is about the breadth of container gardening styles and techniques. Whether for urban or suburban situations, this session will explore the different types of containers as well as some favorite plants for container culture. If your customer demands edible plants, classic looks, contemporary lifestyles or simply a burst of color by the front door, this session is for you.
Dan Benarcik, Plant Curator, Chanticleer Gardens, Wayne, PA
ECO CHIC GREEN TRENDS: How to Sell Native, Wildlife and Habitat Gardening
As gardeners embrace green practices, they realize that their backyard is an ecosystem that not only supports their own lifestyle, but provides a haven for birds, butterflies, bees, and other wildlife that have been displaced by development. Birdwatchers, school children studying natural science, and anyone who wants to get closer to nature can--and should--turn to their local, independent garden center for wildlife gardening resources. Take home new strategies for promoting native plants and wildlife-friendly gardening practices.
Amy Stewart, Author & Green Expert and Garden Chic Columnist