1OO Revolutionary Garden Centers Leading The Retail Revolution
Published in the Today's Garden Center magazine January 2007
By Jennifer Polanz
Managing Editor
jepolanz@meistermedia.com
Within these pages you will find unique ideas created by independent retailers who realize the key to survival is change and evolution. They take risks – some pay off, and some don’t. But they are giving it their all to stay profitable in a time of great competition.
I see that spirited competition coming out in these ideas. The garden centers on this list are providing a unique experience for their customers, be it through innovative loyalty program offerings; new, unusual product mixes or events and activities in and out of the store. They are branding themselves as the experts. You no doubt will recognize many of the names here. Many from last year are on again this year. But some are new faces.
We base the list on a questionnaire that we grade for a maximum of 100 points. That questionnaire asks retailers about everything from staff training and industry involvement to buying practices, marketing initiatives, use of technology and profitability.
Therefore, the retailers on this list aren’t the ones that make the most revenue or have the largest square footage. They are many times working with the space and structures they have, making wise investments into the future and innovating to attract customers.
Last year, we set the threshold at 50 points – so anyone who scored 50 or higher got on the list. This year, we raised the bar to 60 points. The number of retailers who filled out a questionnaire and made the list totalled 89, which meant there were 11 retailers that, through industry research, we determined should be on the list even though they didn’t fill out a survey.
New Developments
Just like our 100, we feel evolution is always a good thing – so we’re adding a new element to the list this year. The five garden centers spotlighted on the following pages are the top scorers in each region, making them the Revolutionary 100 Regional Winners.
One out of these five will go on to win our Revolutionary Retailer Award, which we’ll announce on the cover of the February issue. So stay tuned – the excitement is only just beginning!
Check out in-depth features of each member on www.todaysgardencenter.com, including photos and commercials. Congratulations to all who made the list this year!
For a complete list of all the garden centers, download the original article. This document requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click the "Get Acrobat" icon to install Acrobat. Once installed, return here to view this document.