The August issue of “Today’s Garden Center” magazine includes an article titled “8 Ways to Increase Pottery Sales“, which has some terrific pointers from Sloat Garden Center CEO & President Dave Stoner. I’ll address many of his ideas in a later (and longer) post, but I wanted to quickly relay the information included in a sidebar called “5 Suggestions From Sloat’s Dave Stoner” – these idea are all absolute gold, and should be seriously considered by any garden center active in the pottery category:
- Jump in with both feet. “It’s not a huge investment to bring in a container or two of pottery, and you cant make a statement without quantity”
- Always be deep in it, and don’t play the weather game. “You will sell pots year-round, especially in temperate climates. Make sure you have a plan for storage and restocking, especially if you have multiple locations. It doesn’t need water, and it doesn’t die.
- Think of pottery as a negative space filler. “It can make your nursery look full in the off-season when you have less plant material”
- Don’t try to carry everything all at once. ” Try to get a sense of what your customer wants, or work with your supplier to get a sense of the best colors. Build the line as you go, changing or shuffling along the way.
- Always stock saucers and pot feet “I can’t stress this enough!”
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