2006

Baby Boomers are the �Do It For Me� Market and when it comes to sustainability they are no different. Imagine someone coming in to your yard, building an organic vegetable garden and maintaining it. That is exactly what �Your Patch� (www.yourpatch.com.au) will provide. They will select the best location your garden, work with you to […]

In the last two years chocolate fountains have been all the rage. Is this the next stage? Will garden centres and farm shops be building chocolate Christmas trees next year�� it would be a crowd puller. Ref: Retail Link – Bangkok Hotel Building a 200kg Chocolate Christmas tree – www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4025643.html

By John Stanley One of the challenges for any retail business is getting new consumers to enter the store. The mass merchandisers normally rely on price promotions to get the consumer through their front door and this means small independent business have to rely on other means of �touching the consumer� to get there attention.

My local garden centre, Zanthorrea, has just been awarded in the inaugural �Australia�s Most Weed Wise Nursery� by the Australian Weed Societies. The award is presented to the nursery that is most proactive in its approach to environmental weeds that present a threat to native plants, wildlife and the environment. Zanthorrea refuses to sell high-risk

Today’s marketplace holds few competitive advantages in terms of product or price, therefore emotional engagement and memorable experiences are more important than ever. Click below for a message from John Stanley and Pete Luckett about making your customers say WOW! about their shopping experience. Cant see the video? Click Here to download Flash Plug-in for

By John Stanley Japan with a population of 127 million, most of whom are congregated along the eastern side of the main island, is an intensive market. Traditionally known for Japanese gardens, bonsai and chrysanthemums, the market is now expanding as the population becomes more demanding. In October I had the opportunity to speak at

By John Stanley Christmas is one of the most important trading periods of the retail year in the Western world. The impact it has on sales will vary with each retail sector but, whichever sector you belong to, it is critical that you maximise the sales potential of this peak festive season. One of the

By John Stanley It is always a challenge for me to walk past the coffee shop in our local town. The aroma of those fresh coffee beans being grinded draws me to the store every time. I then have the challenge of passing our local bakery where that aroma gets to me again. My daughters

By John Stanley In the last edition of G.T.N. we featured an article on Cleeve Nursery and the changes taking place. Cleeve Nursery is a small plant focused nursery; the type of retailer who has a huge opportunity to expand their market as long as they make the appropriate changes. Alan, Felicity and the team

By John Stanley I recently read an article that stated that the number of coffee shop brands in the UK had doubled to over 2,500 brand outlets in eight years. I realize we are now in the �coffee culture�, but take Starbucks out of the list and how many retail coffee shop brands can you