Garden center retailers should not only sell plants A highly effective and profitable garden center not only sells plants, but inspires their customers with ways to use them. Some of the garden centers featured on the International Garden Center Congress tour in Denmark took the opportunity to showcase not only how plants will look in the landscape but how they can accent hard goods and garden decor This suggestive selling helps the customer see how the product can be enjoyed in their own environment and helps them make the leap from “shelf” to “home.” One of my favorite garden centers on the tour landscaped the path leading into their garden center (Photo 1) with total sales of 4,200,000 DKK or $630,000 per year This garden center won the prestigious “Garden Center of the Year” for best medium-sized garden center in Denmark in 2010 The owners distributed a few interesting sculptures and fountains in the landscape visually-challenged replica of Michelangelo’s David (Photo 2) Michelangelo’s David replica at the demonstration gardens at Skrædderbakkens Havecenter in Ølstykke Another garden center with excellent demonstration gardens was Gardenshop Høsterkøb this garden center had approximately 54,000 square feet of outdoor sales area Their total sales per year is 35,000,000 DKK or $5.25 million Amongst their roses (Photo 3) was this lovely hardscape with a water feature (Photo 4) relaxing emotion and can both enhance the shopping experience and entice some customers to want to include water features in their garden Water feature near the rose department at Gardenshop Høsterkøb in Hørsholm Another interesting garden center was Langeskov Planteskole It had by far the most space dedicated to inspirational gardening They had 2.5 acres of outdoor areas that was mainly home to 25 different inspirational gardens (Photos 5 and 6) The café overlooked the gardens and customers were lead through this area before shopping in the retail nursery where plants were blocked by color and size and not by species or culture This garden center had a total sales area of approximately 97,000 square feet with 14,000,000 DKK in sales per year or $2.1 million Twenty-five gardens inspired consumers at Langeskov Planteskole in Langeskov Some garden centers might not have the ability to install and maintain such extensive landscaping or demonstration gardens decor and pet supplies were in the greenhouse sales area This garden center still provided the consumer with inspiration with a lovely monochromatic design (Photo 7) Their indoor sales area covered 2.5 acres and have 70,000,000 DKK or $10.5 million in sales per year Monochromatic container-gardening display shows off statue at Plantorama Hillerød in Hillerød Whether retailers choose to landscape acres or just provide tasteful end-caps in stores, Michigan State University Extension recommends showing your consumers how it’s done It is a big leap for most customers to see a product in the store or on the shelf and imagine how it will look at home Help your customers “connect the dots” by inspiring them when and where you can Check out the MSU Fruit & Vegetable Crop Management Program Vegetable & Organic Horticulture Management Program Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work This information is for educational purposes only Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned The 4-H Name and Emblem have special protections from Congress We comply with the Federal Trade Commission 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).