Florist Ireland :: Latest News, Trends, Courses and Jobs for Florist & Flower Sector :: www.HortiTrends.com :: http://florists.posterous.com Floristry Ireland :: Horticulture Trends Latest News, Trends, Courses, Services, Products, Suppliers & Jobs for Floristry Sector in Ireland: Garden Centre, Landscape, Architecture, Nurseries, Arboriculture, Sports Turf, Greenkeepers & Fresh Produce Sectors posterous.com Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:21:16 -0800 Banks Rule the Roost at Monrovia. http://florists.posterous.com/banks-rule-the-roost-at-monrovia http://florists.posterous.com/banks-rule-the-roost-at-monrovia


Last Thursday, Monrovia customers found an e-mail in their inboxes containing two letters. The first letter, signed by Monrovia leadership, read (in part): 

“Our banks have expressed their concern by giving us until January 31 to show significant improvement [$20 million] to our 2011 bookings or face a distressed sale of our inventories";

“Accordingly, we are offering you the opportunity to add to your spring bookings now and until January 31 [reductions of 35%-50% on products]”; and

“Candidly, we are being advised by our lenders and their advisors to sell to the big box channel if we are unable to significantly increase our booked orders. We will not sell our brand into the big box channel but the quality of our plants, even in a black pot speaks for itself. We are aware that this affects your competitive advantage.”

Monrovia has long been an independent-only grower of premium nursery products. Which is why a possible move into the big boxes prompted a group of 75 garden retailers to pen a letter of support (also included in the Monrovia e-mail): 

“We, as Independent Nurseries, cannot afford this to happen,” the letter of support reads. “We agree that we shall increase our spring bookings by a significant amount to help Monrovia Growers reach their goal.”

Monrovia’s response
I was traveling when all this went down, but Green Profit Editor-at-Large Ellen Wells was hard at work in her Boston office, so she called Monrovia for the story. Here’s her report:

I spoke with Monrovia CEO Miles Roseland Friday to learn more. Sales, Miles says, had been “fine” for a six- to eight-year period—then for the last two years they’ve “slowed”—recession-related, he says. 

As for two of their three banks (one wants out of the industry), “They are encouraging us to sell our plants into all channels and to find ways to increase our profitability as a company.” The one channel Monrovia currently isn’t in is the mass market. 

Asked if there would be a reluctance to go in that direction, Miles assured customers that Monrovia “wouldn’t go into that channel with our brand, and we haven’t been in business there so we don’t know exactly how to do it, but we’re going to look into it.”

“Humbling and quite remarkable” are how Miles describes the IGC letter of support. “When our garden centers became aware of our need to go into all channels, they said ‘Let us help you sell more plants. If you can pass savings on to us, we can try to pass savings on to our customers. Maybe we can order a little more.’” 

Premium nursery material in the mass-market channel—even in an anonymous black nursery pot—can and will be a threat to sales at IGCs. Does Monrovia feel they’d lose a lot of support from customers if they were to go into the big boxes, even if it wasn’t in a branded form? “We’re hopeful that our customers will understand the need for us to survive, and appreciate that we’re offering a differentiated product with a brand to them,” says Miles. 

What Monrovia wants IGCs to know is this:

* They’re in full production and have lots of plants to sell;
* They’re prepared to offer good pricing so they can pass savings along to consumers;
* They’re not asking you to take away from other growers; and
* They’ll continue to offer high-value, high-quality plants.

“Response has been very favorable,” says Miles. “If they [IGCs] are willing to increase their business, that should give us the basis to find bank support.”

The conference call
On Tuesday, Monrovia held four conference calls with customers and other interested parties (like me), sharing details of the issue and opening the phone lines to questions.

They explained that one of their three banks doesn’t want to be in business with an industry that has inventory on the books for more than 12 months. That bank has apparently been burned by other nurseries, and so wanted out of this field. “We’re faced with the need to replace one of our three banks, and that is what has precipitated this outreach,” said Miles. 

He was quick to add, “We’re not asking you to cancel from other growers. We recognize that other growers are in the same situation as we are, the same marketplace. We hope you’ll see the opportunity to add to your bookings with us, but we’re not asking you to cancel with someone else just to give us an advantage.”

Monrovia has more than 3,000 independent garden center customers. Quick math says each customer would have to increase its business by $6,700. Is that impossible? 

“We certainly don’t think so," said Bob Smiland, chief sales & marketing officer. "You can do the math yourself, but 3,000-plus locations, you don’t have to buy too much more per location to get to that number. So this is not something just for the larger multi-store operations or super-destination garden centers."

Will they enter the mass market?
That’s what one caller asked. Replied Miles, “The simple answer is, we really don’t know at this point. We haven’t done business in the box channel for 15 years, and really are not familiar with it, but it wouldn’t be prudent for us, facing our demise, so to speak, to not consider all the channels, and that’s what we are doing. So at this point we really can’t give you a definite answer one way or the other.”

But he added, “Our approach into the box channel is not with the brand. The brand is something that’s been built by the independent garden centers, and we want to keep that exclusive to your channel.”

That was the only probing question. Otherwise, the few comments were pledges of support. Said one caller, “Do what you can for Monrovia in this tough time. They’ve been here for us for many, many years.”

Added a representative from a multi-store independent, “I just can’t envision this industry without Monrovia. When things do turn around, we’re going to depend a lot on the guaranteed availability from Monrovia and being able to introduce their new varieties to our customers.” With that, he pledged to increase purchases this year by 25%.

Keep Yourself updated! Click Here to Subscribe to our News Letter and Alerts for the Horticulture & Fresh Produce Sectors In Ireland www.HortiTrends.com 

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Expertise, Practical Know-how, Passion for the Horticulture, Fresh Produce & Lifestyle Sectors.

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Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:08:02 -0800 Silence is Golden. First Load Carriers in the World to Be PIEK Certified http://florists.posterous.com/silence-is-golden-first-load-carriers-in-the http://florists.posterous.com/silence-is-golden-first-load-carriers-in-the

Unique silent transportation units from Container Centralen

The noise levels of the rolling ½ and ¼ steel euro pallets CC Rolly and CC Dolly from Container Centralen (CC) have been tested by TNO (a Dutch independent scientific research organisation) to acquire the PIEK certification. Noise levels of both pallets stay within the maximum of 60 dB(A) to classify for this certification. This means that CC is the first company in the world to obtain a PIEK certificate in the category “goods carts” (load carriers). This milestone within goods deliveries was furthermore awarded a so-called ‘Noise Oscar’ November 9. 

At a ceremony held by the British Noise Abatement Society at the House of Commons November 9, Container Centralen and its range of low-noise returnable transport items were awarded the Highly Commended accolade.


Joseph Blair
HorticultureTrends

Keep Yourself updated! Click Here to Subscribe to our News Letter and Alerts for the Horticulture & Fresh Produce Sectors In Ireland www.HortiTrends.com 

Click Here! to Promote Your Business and Grow Your Trade on Irelands Leading Business2Businesss Horticulture Directory of Supplies & Services www.HortiTrends.com

News . Horticulture B2B Directory . Advertising . Sales . Marketing . Business Development & Support. 

Expertise, Practical Know-how, Passion for the Horticulture, Fresh Produce & Lifestyle Sectors.

Address: Suite 5 . 64 Dame Street . Dublin 2 . Ireland . Location: Map

Mobile: 353 (0)87 9212044  

Email: jblair@hortitrends.com     

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Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:23:38 -0800 Breaking News! Development Plan for Horticulture In Ireland to be Released within days http://florists.posterous.com/breaking-news-development-plan-for-horticultu-0 http://florists.posterous.com/breaking-news-development-plan-for-horticultu-0
Director of Horticulture at Teagasc Jim O’Mahony is making ready the plan for the public domain and all interested industry sectors. Stay tuned to HortiTrends for this and other latest news updates!

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Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:12:33 -0800 Breaking News! Development Plan for Horticulture In Ireland to be Released within days http://florists.posterous.com/breaking-news-development-plan-for-horticultu http://florists.posterous.com/breaking-news-development-plan-for-horticultu

Director of Horticulture at Teagasc Jim O’Mahony is making ready for the public domain and all interested industry sectors. Stay tuned to HortiTrends for this and other latest news updates!

Joseph Blair
www.HortiTrends.com
HorticultureTrends


News . Advertising . Sales . Marketing . Business Development & Support. 
Expertise, Practical Know-how, Passion for the Horticulture Fresh Produce & Lifestyle Sectors...

Address:#20 The Cutlers . 33/34 Parliament Street . Dublin 2 . Ireland . Location: Map
    
Mobile: 353 (0)87.9212044  

Email: jblair@hortitrends.com     

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Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:00:29 -0800 HortiTrends to Give Industry Talk to ITB Horticulture Entrepreneurship Programme 2010 http://florists.posterous.com/hortitrends-to-give-industry-talk-to-itb-hort http://florists.posterous.com/hortitrends-to-give-industry-talk-to-itb-hort Joseph Blair of www.HortiTrends.com and Director of Horticulture Network Ireland will be speaking to students and entrepreneurs in the Institute of Technology's Horticulture Department tomorrow. He will be discussing a range of issues that are effecting existing businesses and new entrants into the horticulture sector in Ireland and Europe. He will be also showing students the benefits of joining the HortiTrends Business2Business Horticulture Directory and Sourcebook that will help them to Grow their Trade in Horticulture in Ireland now and into the future. 
It is a free online directory that unlike paper catalogue directories will not be gathering dust on any shelf and are not out of date as soon as they are published. He will be also be revealing some trick of the trade and the benefits of a Social Media for Business campaign that will make the Directory outshine any new or existing entrants to the market. he will also talk about getting Free Money! from the likes of Bord Bia through the MAP programme among others. Check back over the weekend for an update on the talk and also how your company too can benefit by getting its business profile on Hortitrends now! Stay tuned for an important link up with and online consumer gardening website. Sign up to day at www.HortTrends.com

Keep Yourself updated! Click Here to Subscribe to our News Letter and Alerts for the Horticulture & Fresh Produce Sectors In Ireland. 


News . Advertising . Sales . Marketing . Business Development & Support. 
Expertise, Practical Know-how, Passion for the Horticulture Fresh Produce & Lifestyle Sectors...

Mobile: 353 (0)87.9212044  

Email: jblair@hortitrends.com     

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Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:02:08 -0800 The Marketing Secret for 2011 http://florists.posterous.com/the-marketing-secret-for-2011 http://florists.posterous.com/the-marketing-secret-for-2011

The Marketing Secret for 2011

John Stanley

Marketing has gone through a revolution over the last few years and month

. It seems like every month a new idea hits the market place. Gone are the days when it was as simple as writing a newspaper advert and the job was done. The retailer of today has to consider the social media, conventional promotions, word of mouth marketing, loyalty schemes and a host of other ideas to develop their business.

All these new ways of developing and growing your business have been proven to work by retailers and small business, but the real challenge is implementationin your own business.

The down turn and uncertainty in the market place due to the financial meltdown in 2008 has resulted in most small businesses considering  downsizing and either shedding staff or not recruiting more staff.

In 2010 many economies around the world are still “soft” with governments bringing in stricter governing regulations and as a result retailers are still nervous about growth in the economy. This really came home to me when I had a conversation with my local travel agent. We were having a conversation about marketing and she mentioned that the challenge was not developing new ideas, but having the time to implement those ideas. She was confident that if she had the time she could develop her business and spread the message about how good her service was helping her customers.

She is aware of the marketing secret for 2011...it is TIME .Those businesses that can find time to develop their marketing strategy are those that will prosper in 2011.

I was recently working with a client and his reaction was very similar. His comment was “I am too busy to do marketing, I need all my time to just keep the business afloat, when the business is going well I will give myself more time to do the marketing”.

The extra pressure that retailers and small business are feeling at present is resulting in less people doing more work and as a result they are not having time to develop their business. This strategy will work in the short term, but in the long term it will result in a reduction in customers as other businesses gear up to develop their marketing strategies and attract customers away from your business.

TIME SAVERS

The key to developing your business in the next few months is going back to the basics of management and looking at how you can use time more effectively to allow you and your team to develop marketing strategies for the business in 2011.

My top 7 Tips are as follows

1 Write down your goals as far as marketing is concerned. What do you want to achieve and by when. I think the key is to write them down rather than just think about them and to put a date to the time you will have achieved these goals.

2 When travelling give yourself a target to achieve. I am a typical “Road Warrior” and use the time at airports and on flights to achieve work goals, you may not be an air traveller, but travel time can still be a valuable time to catch up and research what marketing you need to develop.

Do not procrastinate. Set a deadline, write it down and do it. Tell work colleagues and family members what you are doing so they can help you develop your goals.

4 Balance your time between traditional marketing and social media marketing. It is easy to get engrossed in one at the expense of the other. You will need both techniques in your tool kit for 2011.

5 Is there something that you can delegate to allow you to invest more time in the things that will make a difference in your business? For some of us it may be worth delegating the marketing, for others it may mean delegating other areas of work.

6 Measure the success of marketing. Measure how you are achieving more customers and the increase in the average sale per customer. This will give you the motivation and confidence to develop your marketing skills

7 Reward yourself when you have achieved your goals in marketing.

I am confident that 2011 will result in more unique marketing ideas being presented to all of us and it will be easy to feel swamped by all these ideas. My advice is to keep it as simple as you can, set some goals and make sure you achieve them.

John Stanley (CSP) is one of the top 10% of speakers in the world today, an acclaimed retail consultant and WA Entrepreneur of the Year 2009.  The author of several marketing, customer service and retail books including the best seller “Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know”, his company is WA Small Business Champion 2009 – Educational Services and WA Small Business of the Year 2010 for Export Services.  John was voted one of the “Power 100” in 2010 by the UK Horticultural Press.  Visit his websitewww.johnstanley.com.au or email linda@johnstanley.com.au to see how he can help you grow your business. 

 

  

 

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Wed, 29 Sep 2010 06:10:27 -0700 Colour Your Life October Newsletter http://florists.posterous.com/colour-your-life-october-newsletter http://florists.posterous.com/colour-your-life-october-newsletter

Heading
Colour your Life presents.... October 2010
‘Ever stylish’ with a selection of conifers 

You can generate lots of interest in the planteria in autumn and what better plant group to focus on than conifers? 

They must be the ultimate plant group for year-round appeal. Any weather, any season, almost any soil, they are there delivering structure, style and environmental benefits. 

There is always a demand for conifers because of this. 

But what is the magic recipe to translate that into sales?


It’s as easy as 1,2,3

You can boost plant sales with skilful use of POS, positioning and by highlighting their benefits.

Download your FREE POS now from the Colour your Life website!

Use our tutorial to find out how to personalise your POS by adding your own logo or go straight to the poster service to try it yourself. You can download high resolution images to print yourself or alternatively you can use the poster printing service to have them printed and sent to you at a reasonable cost.


See more...

Style, fun & function

These are key concepts to have in mind. Conifers are so diverse, you can maximise visual value in-store by including varieties with unusually coloured leaves or exciting shapes. Many of the golden conifers available in this country are dwarf varieties which can provide colour and interest in tight spaces, when many other garden plants are dormant. 
Dwarf species, (e.g. Pinus mugo) are full of natural humour. Take ‘Mops’ that almost spherical little tree that works so well in beds and borders, or Pinus pumila (Dwarf Siberian pine). 

And it isn’t just the benefit of what we see, it has been proven scientifically that the needles of conifers trap and neutralise those deadly disease-causing particulates, thereby improving air quality around our homes and workplaces. This is a strong promotional message that will have resonance with today’s customers.

Some more species suggestions for special promotion


Colour your Life makes big splash at GLEE!

Did you make it to the Colour your Life seminar at GLEE on September 22nd? It was great, with retail guruPhil Rogers (IKEA, ASDA and Warner Bros) and Mark Long (Director of PPH UK bureau) offering some great ideas on how to engage with customers, get more out of Colour your Life and benefit from theGreen Community Award.

We had loads of feedback from the floor with some leading retailers including Paul Cooling (Coolings Nurseries) and Neil Gow(Burcot Garden Centre) contributing their thoughts to the session. Gillie Westwood (Chief Executive GCA) commented on the changes in our industry and Steve Fry of Dorset Based Gardens Group spoke on the benefits of being involved in the Green Community Award. Gary Buttle from Ned Yates’ garden centre spoke about the benefits of using Colour your Life POS. If you didn’t make it, don’t worry... 

You can see a copy of Phil's Top Retail Tips by clicking here....


Have you seen the poster service tutorial?

The online poster service is brilliant and we can vouch personally  for the quality of the materials available. Why not have a look at the tutorial film on Youtube? It takes you through the steps to create wonderful POS that will help to boost sales in-store.

Just look at what some campaign users have to say about its benefits:


X Factor - Now plants have their own talent show!

At this year’s Plantarium trade show in Boskoop, organisers trialled a new idea – a catwalk style show for new plants. Run with suitable razamataz (plus some very lovely assistants) the plants strutted their stuff before an admiring, yet critical audience.  Find out what plants stole the show...


If you have a story or event to promote please email: news@HortiTrends.com 

Latest Company News, Trends, Courses, Products Services, Suppliers & Jobs in Horticulture & Fresh Produce, Nurseries, Fruit & Vegetable Growers, Landscape, Architecture, Garden Centre, Florists, Sports Turf, Green Keeping & Forestry Sectors.

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Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:48:20 -0700 Product to Shopper Experience by John Stanley http://florists.posterous.com/product-to-shopper-experience-by-john-stanley http://florists.posterous.com/product-to-shopper-experience-by-john-stanley

Product to Shopper Experience
John Stanley

The changes in retailing seem to be happening at a faster pace than ever. Keeping up can be a real challenge. A new word seems to be creeping into the retail vocabulary: shopcentric.

I first noticed the word in reports coming out of mainland Europe, but what is shopcentric all about?  It is about a shift in thinking processes.  It is about being less concerned about the product being sold and more concerned about providing the right experience for the consumer.

Some organisations are using other words that mean the same thing. Shopping malls are emphasising that they are "Activity Centres" rather than places you just go to shop. Whatever word you use to describe it, the emphasis has turned to creating a shopping experience rather than just selling "stuff".

What does this mean for retailers?   It means retailers have to focus more on the consumer and their needs and wants than in the past. Many retailers will argue that they have always focused on the consumer, but now it has become more fashionable for more retailers to do this and as a result the competition for this space has become more aggressive.
 
What do you need to focus on to provide a point of difference?

My first concern is that the word “experience" is now overdone. A recent launch of an American shopping centre was heralded as a "New Shopping Experience”.  The latest marketing from Jakarta in Indonesia is 'Family weekend shopping experience in Jakarta".

The trouble is not many people believe in the headline any more.  For example, 56% of American shoppers "cross shop" on a regular basis when purchasing a product. In other words the so called experience has not bought customer loyalty.

There are exceptions and Starbucks, Anthropologie and Abercrombie and Fitch shoppers are good examples of consumers who are true followers due to the experience they have experienced in those stores.

Creating an experience or being shopcentric means following some specific guidelines in retailing that other retailers either do not implement or do badly or inconsistently.

In 2004 Indiana University produced a report entitled "Creating the Ideal Shopping Experience."  They interviewed consumers to identify what they preferred. It is not the actual results that I find interesting for today's retailers, it is their approach and how that research technique can be adapted to any retail situation.
 
The report was split into five segments:
 
Must Have .  The first question asked of consumers was what must a retailer provide?  The answers were what you would expect. Knowledgeable staff, customer service, cash and credit card payment facilities, product availability and cashiers and people to bag your products. The challenge is if you did a similar survey in your store, what would be the MUST HAVES
 
Should Have.  This was the second question asked of consumers and the response included promotional flyers, staff having computer access to find out information, products signed, a map of the store, products individually priced. Again this may be "common sense", but I recently worked with a retailer where computer access was banned as the owner felt that the sales team could not be trusted to use the computer professionally.
 
Nice to Have.  This was the third part of the survey and looked at what the consumer considered to be a bit of luxury when they were shopping. It got the consumer to think about the shopping experience and this was the core of the survey. The challenge is what would the consumer feel were the nice-to-haves in your store; this would probably revolve around extra services rather than more products.
 
Indifferent.  This part of the survey focused on what you may feel is important, but your customer felt it did not make a difference to their shopping experience.  Too often as retailers we focus on the wrong things in the customer eyes and we could be focusing on the wrong areas of developing the business.
 
Prefer not to have.  The final question focused on the things customers would prefer not to have in their shopping experience, comments like a dirty store became one of the issues in the customers mind.

As I mentioned, this survey was carried out six years ago and the results would not apply to retailers today. The key issue is how would your clients complete such a survey and how you manage and implement the suggestions and ideas that are offered.

You may argue, quite rightly, that you are already providing an experience for your customer base. My challenge to you is that providing an experience has now become trendy and all sorts of retailers and shopping centres are now joining the band wagon.  This means that everyone in the experience economy needs to improve their game to ensure they impress their customers and provide a better experience than the retailer next door.

Customers are not only comparing the experience you provide against other retailers that do what you do, but also against other retailers in other categories or industries.

We have found this in our own town. Six months ago the experience retailers in town on a Sunday were the local garden centre and breakfast coffee shop. Both businesses have seen a drop in town once the farmers market opened during the same time period. The customers changed shopping habits for a better shopping experience even though the product sold was completely different.
 
The Challenge
 
The challenge for all retailers is to improve their game. This starts by asking the customer where they feel the business fits into the experience game.You need to know your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Once you have done that, work with the team to improve them. You will probably find that the opportunities fall into specific groups. Most retailers find they split into customer service, services offered, merchandising and display and management issues. Create some action teams to address each area and come up with a plan to truly enhance the shopping experience.
 
If you would like more information on experience retailing and would like to keep up with what is happening around the world, John Stanley has developed a low-cost, high-value means of doing just that and training your team every month at the same time.  For AUD$45 a month you can become a member of his exclusive club and stay ahead of your competition, watch his monthly TV program online, and train your team, visit his resource site www.johnstanleyretailguru.com.au to join up and start reaping benefits today.

 

If you have a story or event to promote please email: news@HortiTrends.com 

Latest Company News, Trends, Courses, Products Services, Suppliers & Jobs in Horticulture & Fresh Produce, Nurseries, Fruit & Vegetable Growers, Landscape, Architecture, Garden Centre, Florists, Sports Turf, Green Keeping & Forestry Sectors.

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Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:21:47 -0700 Retailing...are you the new social church? by John Stanley http://florists.posterous.com/retailingare-you-the-new-social-church-by-joh http://florists.posterous.com/retailingare-you-the-new-social-church-by-joh

Retailing...are you the new social church?
John Stanley

Various reports have been produced on retailing in recent years that focus on why people go shopping. Some of these reports identify that consumers are driven by convenience and price. I agree that these are key drivers and the multitude of "box" stores and TV commercials will verify that this is the case for many retailers.
 
Having said that, there is a fundamental change going on in some retail sectors that we need to be aware of. The consumer is re looking at their most precious commodity, TIME, and asking themselves how can they use it more effectively, but also how can they develop quality time within the community.
The community is still an important factor for consumers and they still want to gather and connect as a community. Historically the village and town square became the focal point for the local population and the weekly market was a must be place to be seen, catch up on the latest local gossip and to connect as a community. The town square remained the centre of the community until the emergence of the supermarket. This resulted in consumers changing their shopping habits and as a result they would often go shopping and not engage with anyone else in the community whilst on that shopping trip.
 
During the last twenty years this has become the main shopping focus. Out of town shopping complexes were developed and as a result the hub of many towns went into decline and the community suffered as a result.
 
We are now in a period of change once more.  Consumers want their "Social Church" back and as a result we are seeing a number of changes in the way people plan to shop.
What is Social Church?
 
My definition of social church is where the community can gather and connect. This may take place at a market, a community hall, club, or of course, church. Over recent years the social church has become more segregated with consumers congregating in tribes based on age or hobbies rather than mixing as a community where all ages and interests get together and enjoy the community.
Communities need to get together.  Alas in many communities in the last few decades people have moved in and out of houses and may not even know the neighbours; the result is a breakdown of the overall community.
Consumers are now challenging this concept and as a result we are seeing a change in the way we retail and I believe this will be a trend rather than a fashion and retailing may have changed for decades as a result of it.
 
Activity Centres
 
The shopping mall is already seeing this evolution take place. Some estimates are that 50% of American shopping centres are already in decline and empty malls are now a common site in the USA.  The consumer has started to rebel against an experience where they are left in a controlled environment to walk along lines of global shops without much respite.
The result has been the emergence of the main street in new "shopping villages" and architects beginning to design shopping centres that look more like town hubs than boxes with shops in them.
 
In Australia we have the term "Activity Centres.”  An Activity Centre is where 50% of available rental space is made available to activities other than retailing. This means that libraries, night clubs, taverns and community halls are now being introduced into the same retail complex and a 24/7 community experience is on offer to local residents.
The local farmers market traditionally was the "Social Church" for the community. The farmer would bring products direct from the farm and sell directly to a local community. In countries such as Italy, Spain and France the market has continued to be a community focus, but in many countries it went out of fashion as the supermarkets grew their market share.
 
The Farmers Market is back and has become one of the fasted retail growing sectors, it is the ideal social church and many new Activity Centres have created a central plaza to allow the market to be reintroduced into the central hub of activities.
My Book Shop Experience
 
I recently had a meeting in a suburb of Perth and we planned to meet at Millpoint Cafe Bookshop, a business I was unfamiliar with. I was told it was an independent bookshop. The meeting was on a Friday morning.  I arrived at the book shop to find the place full of consumers, reading books, buying books and having a late breakfast or early lunch, in fact we had a challenge to find a seat.
 
Here was an independent, locally owned bookshop that had discovered that if they could tap into Social Church they would have a thriving business.  The place I am told is humming like this every day of the week.

What had they discovered
 
1 You need to create a relaxing atmosphere to get consumers to linger longer
2 The product does not dominate the experience; the customer needs space to enjoy the experience
3 They provide social activities, spread in their case around authors, that are provided consistently and at various times of the day and the week
4 The quality of the food and coffee is as important as the quality of the product they sell
5 The customer is encouraged to linger longer
6 The staff were exceptionally good at their interactive personal skills
7 The team had a passion for the product and how the customer could enjoy it
8 The environment was authentic and unique; you knew you were not in a globally designed retail environment
All forms of retailing need to develop the social church niche. For some retailers it can be a broad church whilst others will develop a narrow church and build on the hobby or interest of their customers.

The businesses that have an advantage are locally owned independent operators who are keen to develop their market penetration within the community.
 
If you would like more information on how to create experiences for your customers, John Stanley has developed a low-cost, high-value means of doing just that and training your team every month at the same time.  For AUD$45 a month you can become a member of his exclusive club and stay ahead of your competition, watch his monthly TV program online, and train your team, visit his resource site www.johnstanleyretailguru.com.au to join up and start reaping benefits today.

 

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Thu, 16 Sep 2010 08:27:07 -0700 Glee Wonderwall Pics http://florists.posterous.com/glee-wonderwall-pics http://florists.posterous.com/glee-wonderwall-pics

Glee wonderwall pics

Glee Wonderwall

The Glee Wonderwall is the new community lead feature for www.gleebirmingham.com. Hosted 365 days a year there is no better place to see great merchandising ideas from around the UK and overseas.

Get involved

We know that many of you retailers are doing some great things back in store. So why not share your ideas with your peers. Simply take a photo of your great merchandising displays and send them to us at glee@emap.com. We will then upload your image to the Glee Wonderwall with a full accreditation to you and the product you are displaying.  

 

 Barton Grange  Barton Grange 2 Barton Grange 3
Barton GrangeBarton Grange 2Barton Grange 3
 Garsons Esher S  Garsons Esher 2 S Garson Esher 3 S
Garsons Esher Garsons Esher 2Garsons Esher 3
    
PolhillPolhill 2Polhill 3
    
ShootsShoots 2Shoots 3
   
Bybrook BarnGarsons Titchfield Poplars
   
Ruxley Manor Shoots Washington 2Thompsons Canterbury
   
an Hage PeterboroughStewarts Country GardensStewarts Garden Lands
   
Squires badshot leaParadise Park Millbrook Gravesend
   
Millbrook Gravesend 2 Millbrook CrowboroughMillbrook Crowborough 2
    
 Coolings 

 

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