Farwest Show: Retail Details

Ellen C. Wells

Farwest Show is offering a retail tour again this year and it has a theme, too: “Building Your Independent Garden Center’s Brand Within Your Community.” Taking place on Tuesday, August 21 and sponsored by The Peters Company, the tour group will visit four Portland, Oregon-area garden centers: two Portland Nursery locations (Division Street and Stark Street in Portland), and two Al’s Garden & Home locations (Sherwood and Wilsonville).
 
The tour will be led by retail expert Anne Obarski (pictured left), who will go through each location and explain how each store creates brand recognition. She’ll reveal the secrets of keeping a consistent brand across several store locations while also letting each store respond to its neighborhood’s preferences and values.
 
Anne also will give two talks on Wednesday, August 22. First up will be “Dealing with Opposing Personalities: Employees, Customers and More!” in which she’ll share how to deal with employees or customers who are upset. In the second talk, “What’s Your Pink Pig? How to Feed and Nurture Your Competitive Advantage,” she’ll talk about standing out from the competition by creating a contagious experience.
 
Also on Wednesday, Katie Dubow (pictured right), creative director of Garden Media Group, will discuss and share the finer points of the Group’s 2019 Garden Trends that will help drive sales next year. Katie won’t just list the trends, but also explain how you can apply them to your business.
 
Find out about everything Farwest has to offer at farwestshow.com. GP