Connecticut to conduct consumer focus groups

The Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association is conducting focus groups this fall to find out how consumers feel about plants.

CNLA plans to convene four group sessions in a specially-selected, representative sample of consumers throughout the state, using a professional market-research firm.

The firm will extract what consumers really feel about the quality of plants, the state's retail stores, service, price points and reasons why they don't buy plants, among others.

Although focused on Connecticut-grown plants, the research will uncover consumer attitudes toward nurseries, garden centers, greenhouses and landscapers.

The first results will be revealed at the Winter Symposium, Jan. 4-5 in Manchester, Conn.

The focus group was funded by a $35,000 specialty crop block grant from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture and the USDA.