Fall 2007
Garden Accessories Take Root By Heather Johnson Durocher

Bold and Beautiful?

The experts agree that large is in for garden accessories. While that may be good news for many, how do you display and stock these large items if space is at a premium?

You'll want to actively use these planters and containers in your store, says Anthony Cilio, vice president of sales for Alfresco Home, of King of Prussia, PA. His company sells garden accessories in addition to its lines of lounge chairs, love seats and coffee tables. Here are some ideas for showcasing big containers and planters:

... Use them as beverage coolers at in-store events. Fill them with ice and throw some drinks in.
... Use them to store charcoal or grass seed.
... Use them to display dog toys or treats.
... Fill them with winter salt and place them at the door.
... And of course, plant flowers in them!

The options are endless. A word of caution: Make sure your planters and containers are food-safe before stocking them with edible products.

Growing your Sales

To sell more garden accessories in your store, Susan McCoy, president of the Garden Media Group, encourages you to consider five stages of gardening: dreaming, planning, planting, nurturing and harvesting.

Take advantage of the “dreaming” stage, for example, by pushing garden accessories as holiday gifts throughout the fall. Products on the smaller size—”cash and carry” planters versus 100-pound containers—will sell well, McCoy says.

Display complementary gardening accessories around a Christmas tree. “You could put, in a planter, a garden journal, pencils and markers, gardening books about how to plan your garden, and beautiful brass markers to put in the ground to identify your plants,” she says.

Tucker Bantom, manager of Perino’s Garden Center, in Metaire, LA, says he tries to place like items together to remind customers of all they’ll need to garden. His shop features items like candles, decorative pottery and patio furniture. “I do best with displays around my tables of the bedding plants,” Bantom says. “So if you had a table of impatiens, I put little hand shovels on that table. It makes it impulsive to just pick it up and put it in the cart.” Bantom also has signs near the register, such as “Don’t forget your shovel!” that seem to work well.

In the spring, you may want to host an in-store gardening demonstration. “You could bring in a local gardening guru, who could bring the plants and you provide the containers, or bring in local authors who have written on gardening,” McCoy says.

As the harvest season gets under way, offer baskets that shoppers would want to carry vegetables.

Larger items, such as fountains and planters, are placed throughout Bantom’s store, often surrounded by pottery. These “scene” displays mimicking backyards have driven sales during the slower months, he says. “Sometimes [customers] will say, ‘I’ll take that whole deal.’ My favorite words!”

Heather Johnson Durocher

Durocher is a northern Michigan-based journalist who writes frequently about business for newspapers and magazines. She has contributed to USA Weekend, Woman's Day, Parents and American Baby. Visit her website at HeatherDurocher.com