CNLANEWS
Turn independent garden centres into year-round destinations
BY ANNE KADWELL AND STUART SERVICE
Butterflies and exclusive customer events
The seasonality of a garden centre business is focused on making the most of the peak growing season to accumulate most of its annual revenue during spring and summer. However, this limited sales window continues to widen as more independent garden centres across Canada discover successful ways to make it economically viable to keep their stores open during the “shoulder season” from September to April. By creating a year-round destination shopping experience, garden centres are drawing customers in by hosting workshops, expanding product inventory and organizing fun and enterprising community events. Fashion shows and pet-friendly events A great example are the many events hosted at Greenland Garden Centre in Sherwood Park, Alta. These include an Indoor Gardening Day in February with seminars and in-store specials, and a Howl-ween Pooch Parade in October, when customers dress up their pets in support of a local animal shelter. And the fashion shows, which started in 2010, continue to be as popular as they are profitable. Greenland currently hosts shows twice a year during the bookends of the gardening season in March and September. “Both are much anticipated by our customers and sell out quickly every time,” said Patti Ambrock, Greenland’s general manager. “Our fashion buyer Sharon plans specific outfits to be featured and sets aside a portion of clothing inventory to be showcased exclusively at the event. The models are Greenland’s very own staff members who also work on the sales floor after the show.” Registration fees, as well as raffle draws throughout the evening, go toward a local
women’s shelter. Attendees also receive a complimentary glass of wine. “It has become a fun evening out for so many of our customers that many attend year after year.” Kiwi’s haunted house In Spruce Grove, Alta., Kiwi Nurseries Ltd. has also embraced hosting multiple events throughout the year, including an Easter Egg Hunt, Craft Beer Night and Christmas Walk. By far, the biggest draw is Kiwi’s Haunted House. In August, Kiwi staff build a seven-foot-tall skeleton to promote the month-long event. Every weekend in October, the garden centre welcomes between 500 and 1,500 people every night. “We charge admission, or a donation to the Parkland Food Bank gets you entry,” said Ashleigh Munro, Kiwi Nurseries’ garden centre coordinator. Guests can skip the lines by purchasing a speed pass, which costs three times the price, “and people are quite happy to have that option as well.” The haunted house starts earlier in the night, when kids under six get in for free. There are no actors in the haunted house creating jump scares, allowing younger families a chance to enjoy a more subtle scare experience. As it gets darker throughout the night, the atmosphere “gets scarier and scarier.” Kiwi’s Haunted House is so popular that traffic often backs up on the nearby Yellowhead Highway. The October event has become such a defining part of the business that many customers who drive by in the summer are surprised to discover “that haunted house place” is a huge, 200-acre garden centre and nursery grower that has been in business for 45 years.
Jardin Hamel near Quebec City, Que., creates an annual, six-week event called Papillons en Fête. Staff set up a huge, 1,000-square-metre aviary where more than 15,000 butterflies from over 35 species flutter about the plant material. The event is timed to coincide with March Break, and with tickets costing only up to $9, this low-cost wintertime event has become a hit with families. “This aviary is set up in a tropical style with orchids, flowers and tropical plants, and there are thousands and thousands of butterflies flying freely,” said Francois Parent, co-owner of Jardin Hamel. Leanne Johnson, president of Canada GardenWorks Ltd., frequently works with businesses in the communities local to her 10 store locations in British Columbia. They host meetings for garden clubs and special holiday events for the clients of realtors. “We’d invite them to the store, have music, snacks, beverages, and the realtor is there welcoming them and providing them a nice holiday gift,” Johnson said. They’ve done similar exclusive events for VIP customers to give them a chance to see new merchandise and to feel valued. They’ve also hosted financial institutions to invitation- only parties that include hands-on workshops. “We just had to provide the expertise and passion,” Johnson added. “That was easy.” Using wintertime wisely Art Vanden Enden spent his 44-year career working in, managing and leading independent garden centres in the Greater Toronto Area. Even though a garden centre may not be profitable during the winter months, “the value of retaining experienced employees in a small
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