Holiday Inspo

Jennifer Polanz

If you do any kind of winter holiday sales, chances are you went to some kind of market or trade show recently. Consider this photographic journey through Dickman Farms Greenhouses & Garden Center in Auburn, New York, as some inspiration for what to do with those purchases come November (or earlier).

MSFA
You’ve seen a lot of acronyms lately, but how about this one: Make Shopping Fun Again. That’s what it’s all about, right? Giving customers an experience they can’t get online? Dickman Farms starts the fun right away with this scene at the entrance to the store.

Creation Station
On the day I visited (a Tuesday in December two weeks before Christmas), shoppers were requesting customized greens. Retail General Manager Stephanie Whitehouse was happy to oblige, creating multiple bow-laden wreaths while I was there. Stephanie says the custom decorations counter is on wheels and becomes register #5 during peak spring, as well as a resource center other times of the year. The store hosted multiple holiday workshops, including tutorials on porch pot creation, wreath-making, centerpieces, kissing balls and door swags. They had 128 people sign up to participate in workshops that ranged from $20 up to $45, not including extra add-ons purchased during the events. Several sold out.

Winter Themes
Stephanie pointed out to me that there were two areas housing ornaments and décor: everything in front of the windows represented outside themes (birds, ice skates, snowflakes, snowmen, etc.), while everything behind the windows represented inside motifs. Here are a couple of the outside displays.
 

Making Gifting Easy
Aside from décor, customers are often shopping a garden center for gifts. Dickman Farms made it easy for customers to quickly find items like these Burgeon & Ball pruner and holster gift sets, and the Felco glove and pruner sets seen on the back of the table. This table and others, like the one with the gift card sign, were positioned near the main entrance.

Color Combos
Each display set with ornaments and décor had specific color combinations. For example, the skating and snowflake display concentrates on whites and blues, while this display stays with reds, blacks and whites with pops of green. The coordination helps each display stand out to customers looking for specific color themes.

Don’t Forget the Live Plants
We’ve covered a lot here, but of course, it’s still all about the live goods. Dickman Farms still had plenty to choose from, even fairly close to Christmas, and the quality was superb.

Stand-up Trees
I liked the system Dickman Farms staff used for displaying live Christmas trees. Pre-drilled Christmas tree trunks are inserted into the stakes in these premade squares, allowing customers to see all sides of the tree. They also offer the Stand Strait Tree Stand System, which allows the customer to place the pre-drilled hole onto a tapered pin in the stand that results in a straight tree.

Don’t Forget the Live Plants
We’ve covered a lot here, but of course, it’s still all about the live goods. Dickman Farms still had plenty to choose from, even fairly close to Christmas, and the quality was superb. GP