Selling Outdoor Style

Jennifer Polanz

On a recent visit to Jenne’s Garden Center & Farm in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, I was struck by how neat this display looked and how simple it is with the hay bale. Layering smallest in front to tallest in the back helped each one stand out. These décor products are often hard to display effectively and I thought this option did the trick (look for more about Jenne’s in the July issue of Green Profit).

Birding can be a big part of the outdoor décor opportunity for garden centers, particularly with the goal of bringing customers back regularly for seed. Green Thumbers Lawn & Garden Center in Davenport, Iowa, had a particularly eye-catching birding department, full of houses, baths, feeders, seed, suet and more. The department is situated toward the back of the main store.

Outdoor pillows and cushions are super popular, but are another one that’s hard to display well. These shots are from Petitti Garden Centers in Avon, Ohio, where they have a color-blocked wall in the outdoor décor department, as well as on the furniture and specialty ones hanging on these ropes closer to the cash registers. It’s hard to see in the photo, but they’re secured to the rope with common office supply binder clips.

Wallace’s Garden Center in Bettendorf, Iowa, does a beautiful job showing their outdoor furniture in a way that mimics a complete design, spacing it throughout their store with lots of accents and themes to inspire customers. For example in this photo, a customer could see themselves with a full outdoor set, table, patio and garden décor, artwork, plants and more. GP