Come together

Earlier this year, Nursery Management and sister publication Garden Center polled readers to find out what was effective and what was lacking in their hectic business relationships. Are retailers satisfied with their grower suppliers? What type of support would growers like to receive from retailers? Find out what each segment revealed.

Half the retailers surveyed revealed they were “satisfied” with their current growers and 33 percent said they were “very satisfied.” That’s a good start. Sounds like the grower segment is getting the job done.

Some of the retailers’ comments:

“Our vendors have quality and knowledge that helps us be a better and more efficient garden center.”

“The plant materials are retail ready.”

“We have mutual trust in our relationship.”

Just more than 8 percent of those surveyed were “somewhat dissatisfied” with their growers, while only 1 percent were totally dissatisfied.

How can growers improve? Here’s what some retailers had to say:

“Lack of selection.”

“Needs more consistent quality.”

“Needs more differentiation from products sold to mass merchants.”

This one may come as a surprise: “Not always willing to grow new introductions that we would like to sell at retail.”

“Great growers, not so great business people.”

See the rest of the story and charts here.

(Photo courtesy of Rough Bros.)