March 2023 - 43

MERCHANDISING
garden center or store. Make your garden center a place
of entertainment as well. I live in Colorado, near Tagawa
Gardens in Centennial, and every fall they do a really great
Fall Festival, and shoppertainment becomes a focus of
driving customers into their store. They have face painters;
they bring a petting zoo at the back of their space. They
have, of course, pumpkins and all those things, too, but
they also have craft tables for kids, and families are coming
because their kids are going to be entertained. But what
happens is they're walking by a million different things as
they're walking back to that festival space that's turned into
a center of entertainment for them - so they're spending
money. They know that, by going to this festival, they're also
going to make some purchases. I love the shoppertainment
idea and concept because it really does keep customers
engaged; it gives them something to look forward to outside
of maybe just the traditional shopping.
It's also an opportunity to engage in loyalty programs,
too - give out a coupon for a discount on a future purchase.
And fall leads up to Christmas, so there's a lot of drive for
this particular thing in the fall.
L&GR: What about impulse buys/merchandising at the
checkout counter?
Leinbach: When a customer has already decided
they're going to spend money, make sure you strategically
merchandise inventory that is going to be impulsive,
affordable and easily grabbable without too much thought.
It could be as obvious as a bottle of water, which has great
margins, so that's not a bad thing to be selling at your store.
But it also could be something like an ornament if it's the
holidays. Some of my favorite ornaments are from my local
garden center - that's what made me think of it. They're all
nature inspired, so they tie back to the garden. Maybe it is
seeds, or maybe it's a cookbook with fresh garden recipes.
L&GR: Where are your favorite places to find
merchandising inspiration?
Leinbach: I find my most favorite places are those
different, one-of-a-kind shops, maybe with two or three
locations. There's a new store concept called CAMP, which
currently has nine locations in the U.S. It's a children's store,
but it has a family focus to it. I find their concept interesting
because they actually have two types of stores - they have
a traditional store that is just that, with the kids' toys, but
there are things like a slide kids can go down while they're
shopping. They also have a theater concept store, where you
go shopping but also you buy a ticket and there's a whole
production, almost like a show that the cast members of the
stores perform, as well as more shopping opportunities.
That actually ties back to what I was saying about
shoppertainment. I think we're going to see an increased
trend in stores becoming places of entertainment, not just
shopping. I think the store CAMP is a good example.
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Email: ShatleyFarms@Skybest.com
Phone: 877-982-9462
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March 2023

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