2007

By John Stanley To be a successful hardware retailer in today’s competitive market, I believe, you need to get three categories correct in your store, gardening, paint and power tools. In my previous article I concentrated on the garden category; in this edition we will concentrate on the paint category. Don’t Sell the Paint The […]

By John Stanley Big is better, this was a call to action as recently as a few years ago, it is rarely used in the marketplace today. New “buzz” words have arrived like, sustainability, carbon footprint and community retailing, these are the new words being used at conferences and in the press. These are not

Thanks to Keith Turbett at Scheurich for discovering this gem. Movers in the USA spend on average $7,300.00 in new products and services in the first 90 days after the move. How do they do their research? 67% ask new neighbours 61% use the internet 23% email people Ref: Clickz.com 10.2.07

By John Stanley At the recent H.T.A Conference, Charles Notcutt gave a passionate speech – “If mankind’s existence was condensed into the average life of a business, 30 years, then in customer terms the business would expect a customer count increase of 35000% in the next two years”. At present the first world needs three

The Business Life 2007 Salary Survey for the UK was published in the October edition of the British Airways Business Life Magazine. It makes some interesting comparisons: UK Average Wage – £29,331 National Minimum Wage – £11,481 Premier League Footballer – £676,000 Chief of Defence – £219,834 Prime Minister – £188,849 Senior Retail Buyer –

by John Stanley If I had suggested that paint suppliers were leading the way in horticultural marketing a few years ago, you wouldn’t have taken me seriously, but times change. Monrovia Nurseries, the leading plant brand in the USA now has a marketing director who originates from the paint industry and garden centres are now

I met Elmar Fischer-Weiberger of Adamah on the Czech Organic Workshop. Adamah are global innovators when it comes to box schemes. Ten years ago, the farm, located near Vienna, was transformed into an organic farm with the aim of supplying produce in a box scheme to the residents within a 20km radius. The result, is

September 2007 saw the last H.T.A. national conference. From now on it will be a regional event rather than a national event, a sign of changing times. The UK industry in 2006/07 has had its ups and downs with the sector seeing a £230 million increase in sales, even though core products were down 3%.

By John Stanley The great pricing debate was started in a workshop in the U.K in August 2007. The debate took place in the U.K, but I’m sure the message applies to other countries. It’s not just a British phenomena. In the room were some of the leading growers and retailers from the UK, Ireland

By John Stanley The 2007 CANGC Garden Expo from my point of view was one of the best ever. Research in the UK indicates that visitors are attending trade shows to look for new ways of merchandising and new products. Gone are the days when they go with an order book and socialize. This year