Retail Roadshow Guests

Saved The Best For Last

By Shannon Hicks

“Did you see where they had…

“Did you notice…

“Have you gone over to look at…”

“I’ve spent more money here than any other place we’ve visited. This is wonderful!”

There was a lot of positive energy and excited conversation happening at Lexington Gardens last Friday afternoon, as members of a national trade association of the nursery and landscape industry visited one of Newtown’s garden centers as part of the association’s annual symposium.

Last week was the 2004 Retail Roadshow for the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA), a four-day event presented this year in New York City that featured 3½ days of touring some of the tri-state area’s most outstanding independent garden centers. On Friday that tour focused on Connecticut, and late Friday afternoon two busloads of guests pulled into Lexington Gardens for a visit.

Owner Tom Johnson and members of his staff were waiting for them. The buses were expected earlier in the afternoon, but delays in the departure of the group and then traffic woes during the day meant the ANLA people were on the road longer than they had expected.

Mr Johnson welcomed about five dozen ANLA representatives to his nursery. The group had been larger at the opening of the day, but some participants opted to return to the city for dinner reservations, while the diehard nursery fanatics pushed on to finish Friday’s itinerary.

The Roadshow allows owners and employees of independent garden centers to visit a few dozen locations within a geographic area to collect ideas, all within a relatively short period of time. The trips are educational and eye-opening, they provide networking opportunities, and with plenty of time for shopping and sightseeing, they are also fun.

In 3½ days of touring, participants can finalize ideas for their own garden centers on what to present for fall and Christmas selling seasons; pick up ideas on marketing and merchandising strategies, signage, traffic flow, inventory management, employee retention, uniforms, displays, newsletters, and events; speak directly with fellow owners and managers of garden centers; and visit a variety of retail sizes and settings, which allows members to see how businesses of different sizes can work in rural, middle class, densely populated urban, and high-end suburban settings.

Participants come from across the country and around the world. Name tags last week included home states of Alabama, Texas, and Wisconsin, and there were a few guests from Canada, Germany, and England.

Before reaching Newtown the ANLA folks had visited Sam Bridge Nurseries in Greenwich, Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk, Oliver Nurseries in Fairfield, Van Wilgen’s Garden Center in North Branford, and Hollandia Nursery & Garden Center in Bethel.

“It has been a great day and we look forward to ending on a great, happy note,” said Josh Bracken, the president of The National Garden Center Organization, the retail division of ANLA.

After offering a brief history of Lexington Gardens and its current offerings, including its Christmas boutique and annual art show, Tom Johnson invited the group to spend time inside his garden center.

ANLA looks for differentiation when deciding where its Roadshow will visit each year.

“There are probably 70 or more places you can choose from in each geographic area, and we narrow it down to 15 or 20 selections,” explained ANLA meetings manager Stephanie Still.

“Independent garden centers are unique. They serve their customers well,” added ANLA director of member resources Kellee Magee. “The best thing about this industry is they really don’t compete. People can share ideas like this because they don’t usually have to go against other independent nurseries in their immediate area.”

Lexington Gardens offers traditional and contemporary floral arrangements, a full service greenhouse, trees, shrubs and bushes, gourmet and fruit baskets made in the store, a gourmet food and cooking section, and a constantly changing shopping boutique. In addition to serving walk-in customers, the garden center provides delivery service.

Tom Johnson thinks all of this is why the Church Hill Road business was named 2003 Best Flower/Garden Center in Connecticut magazine, and it is part of the reason his business was selected by ANLA.

The 2004 Retail Roadshow opened on June 16 with orientation and a garden party, and then began its day trips on June 17. Thursday’s travels focused on Long Island and a special visit to the Macy’s Parade & Special Event Studio, where participants enjoyed an 80-minute behind-the-scenes program on an American tradition.

Friday was spent traversing Connecticut, and Saturday was began in Red Bank, N.J., and continued to Rockland, N.Y.