2008

Jennifer Schamber of Greenscape Gardens in the USA was voted Green Profit Young retailer of the Year for 2007. Some of the great ideas she has come up with were reported in the Ball Publishing Sustainable newsletter this month. They include: Be A Greenscaper Program – Seminars on how to manage water in your garden, […]

Valentines is now well and truly over and what have you done with that card from a loved one, did you eat it? How about getting a card that is completely different and from someone who has made Valentine cards for Prince Charles and Sting! Flo Dunlop owns the chocolate factory in the village I

By John Stanley Talk to a lot of people who have visited Disneyland in the USA and included in their comments will be how the team members at Disneyland helped to make their experience memorable. At the same time survey after survey identifies that we, as consumers, feel customer service is on the decline. This

I was recently approached, by Kerry Johnstone, Editor of Commercial Horticulture magazine in New Zealand about doing an article about me. Not about my work as such, but about my life and how I got to where I am now. So for those of you who are not aware of my path through life, here

By John Stanley It was 1985 when Billy Ocean made the above a classic “pop” song. Okay, it may show my age, but this quote is relevant to retailing in 2008. Over the last few years retailers have experienced economies around the world where consumers continued to have more money in their pockets, it was

By John Stanley The words “recession” and “change” seem to be bound around the retail world quite freely at present. But, at the same time this is a period of opportunity for small retailers to grow their business, as long as they are good neighbours. I was recently in Seattle, the home of the pioneer

One of the issues in the retail world at present is the food debate. Supermarkets versus farm markets, fast food versus slow food, organic versus inorganic. The West Australian newspaper did an excellent article last week on the issue and you can read their article by clicking below. Download Food Fight article here …..

Cauliflower cheese will never be the same again. Scientists have developed amazing variants of vegetable where the traditional white florets have been changed to a garish orange, purple and green. The “rainbow cauliflowers” are said to taste the same as the normal varieties, but add a splash of colour to the dinner table. Some scientists

I spotted this last week in the Sunday Times in the UK. The two biggest publishers in Britain are to offer dozens of likely bestsellers to read on a hand-held screen this autumn in a sign that, after many false dawns, the electronic “ebook” may finally have arrived. Random House and Hachette, which together control

The independent garden centre is constantly changing as a model. Thermafor, in their latest newsletter, reveal their view of the future garden centre. I like their thinking process and I beleive this could be a great model for future discussion. One thing is for sure, the old model in garden centre design is rapidly changing.