February 2025 - 4

EDITOR'S LETTER
Are You the Next
Winner?
The entries keep rolling in
for The 2024 Lawn & Garden
Retailer Innovator Awards,
which will once again honor
garden centers that elevate
the customer experience
in progressive ways. We're
looking for IGCs that are
making a difference in
categories such as social
responsibility, community
involvement, merchandising,
technology, events and more.
Nominations can
come from garden
centers themselves or
from consultants, suppliers or other green industry
professionals. Winners will be announced in our
August issue and awards will be presented at a special
ceremony at the Garden Center Show, taking place
Aug. 12-13 in Rosemont, Illinois. Find all the details at
lgrmag.com/innovators.
Also in This Issue
This issue includes a column from a 2024 honoree
of the Innovator Awards, McDonald Garden Center.
Mike Westphal, director of retail operations and
garden guru, shared how McDonald's houseplant
department has grown to become a year-round
destination for houseplant lovers, with the largest
selection in Virginia.
" Reframing our houseplant department into
'Plantopia' has become a vision that reshaped our
approach to communicating about houseplants to
our customers, " he writes. Read more on page 14.
Bringing in more business to your garden retail
operation can also be a matter of understanding
trends in your community. Fort Collins, Coloradobased
Fossil Creek Nursery partners with the largest
independently owned brewery/winery in the area to
share the growing bonsai trend with its customers.
" Many local breweries in our area host
mindfulness seminars or yoga classes, so we felt
that our bonsai classes would fit right in, " said Paige
McGowan, marketing coordinator. " Partnering with
other local businesses, especially one as beloved as
Odell Brewing Co., shows that we are active in our
community. " Flip to page 28 to read more.
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
ADVERTISING SALES
ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVE
PRODUCTION
SENIOR CLIENT SUCCESS
REPRESENTATIVE
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CIRCULATION
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATE
VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CFO
COO & CMO
PUBLISHER & CEO
Shawn Storie, 616-520-2176
sstorie@greatamericanpublish.com
Deb Carnes, 616-520-2169
dcarnes@greatamericanpublish.com
Kim Baker, 616-520- 2135
kbaker@greatamericanpublish.com
Matt McCallum, 616-520-2133
mmccallum@greatamericanpublish.com
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
JD Boone
Tiger Palafox
Stan Pohmer
Jake Scott
Danny Summers
Kate Terrell
Dothan Nurseries
Mission Hills Nursery
Pohmer Consulting Group
Piedmont Feed & Garden Center
The Garden Center Group
Wallace's Garden Center
Becky Stovall, 616-520-2138
bstovall@greatamericanpublish.com
Jolan Godfrey, 616-520-2148
jgodfrey@greatamericanpublish.com
Alexa Armstrong, 616-520-2174
aarmstrong@greatamericanpublish.com
Amanda Mackey, 616-520-2157
amackey@greatamericanpublish.com
Allison McKenzie, 616-520-2142
amckenzie@greatamericanpublish.com
Tiffany O'Kelley, 616-520-2155
tokelley@greatamericanpublish.com
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR
Teresa McPherson, 616-520-2163
tmcpherson@greatamericanpublish.com
Ellen Wagner, 616-520-2161
ewagner@greatamericanpublish.com
Carly McFadden, 616-520-2164
cmcfadden@greatamericanpublish.com
The opinions and views expressed by authors, contributors and advertisers in Lawn &
Garden Retailer do not necessarily reflect those of the editors and publisher. Appearance
in Lawn & Garden Retailer does not constitute endorsement by Great American Media
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American Media Services and Lawn & Garden Retailer accept no responsibility of liability
for the validity or accuracy of information supplied by contributors, vendors, advertisers,
or advertising agencies. Great American Media Services and Lawn & Garden Retailer do
not make any claims or guarantees as to the accuracy or validity of information supplied
by contributors, vendors, advertisers or advertising agencies.
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@LGRmag
Teresa McPherson, MANAGING EDITOR
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4 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | FEBRUARY 2025
@lgrmag

http://www.lgrmag.com/innovators

February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2025