LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER
HEADLINES
How has it been, essentially starting fresh? lege, about 10 years. Back then, I was involved
Every year brings us challenges, but every year through my family’s greenhouse business. At fi rst, I
also brings us success stories. We bought the busi- served on the Generation Next Committee. I loved
ness from someone else, and it was in very bad that committee because we did fun things to get
shape on just about every level. For the fi rst few the younger people in the industry more involved
From OFA to You
years, we got constant compliments from the cus- so we could learn from each other.
tomers on the changes we had made to the store. Now, I’m on the Garden Center Committee and
Member Spotlight:
Now, we’ve been rated New Hampshire’s Best New the Exhibitor Advisory Committee. The Garden
Garden Center and Best of Concord for two years Center Committee is great because it deals with
Charlie Cole, Cole Gardens
running. That feels great. everything I do every day. It’s exciting because
By Jim Broderick, OFA Interim CEO we are extending the reach of OFA from being the
What are some of the changes you’ve made? place to learn about greenhouse production and
OFA is fortunate to have passionate and dedi- Most importantly: customer service. Also, plant new plants to the place for retail growers and for
cated members, and we periodically spotlight material. They used to run out of product by Memo- great new retailing ideas.
people to share their business ideas with you. This rial Day; we are just getting started by then. We
month, we talked to Charlie Cole of Cole Gardens are always full; we have a great selection of plants. What do you get out of your membership?
in Concord, N.H. There’s a constant fl ow of new material. This past Networking. You learn what you learn in the
year, we totally changed the layout of the outside classroom, but you learn ten times’ that from other
Tell us about your garden center. to create better customer fl ow. Plus, we now keep garden centers. That’s the biggest thing I get out
It’s four years old. We do it all: trees, shrubs, much better track of inventory. of OFA. There are plenty of reasons why I stay
perennials, tropicals, annuals, gifts, fl orist. We are involved, but if networking were all I got out of it,
strictly retail — no growing — because we have How are you involved with OFA? it would be more than enough to make me go back
great suppliers. We can concentrate on retailing. I’ve been involved since my junior year in col- every year.
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8 Lawn & Garden Retailer November 2009 www.lgrmag.com
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