Oct 19, 2011

How an Ohio Garden Center ‘Dressed up’ its Inventory – And Made a KillingBy GardenCenterMagazine.com

Westlake, OH – Garden center operators looking to find a previously untapped profit center should take notes from Pam Donzelli at Gale’s Westlake Garden Center. The store’s president decided to market fashion apparel and accessories at the Westlake, Ohio, store. Here’s the story, along with its happy ending, per Donzelli …

GARDEN CENTER: What prompted your store’s management team to decide to get into selling fashion items?

PAM DONZELLI: [We] decided to go into ladies apparel for several reasons. Most garden centers who have a gift shop in their store know the categories that sold well in the past are not the same categories selling well in today’s gift shop. The collectible market is gone, and most retail stores are on the interior décor and fragrance/bath category bandwagon. We asked: What can we do to help bring back those lost dollars and re-establish that customer? Ladies apparel and accessories were getting lots of attention in the trade mags, and for good reason. Most garden centers who experimented with the category were experiencing great sales. They saw an increase in the category where so many other categories are either decreasing or remaining flat. Trade magazines gave us lots of information on the best vendors, especially the gift trade magazines.

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