The Garden Center Group - The People

The Garden Center Group (The Group) is an alliance of garden centers, consultants, service providers and preferred vendors who work together creating a community of professionals with one goal in mind...helping each other build successful companies. We believe that the success of The Group is dependent on the success of each participating company.

When you join The Group you'll have access to some of the industry's leading experts on business management issues along with dozens of garden center owners from across the country; centers facing the same business concerns as you on a daily basis.

From marketing to merchandising...budgeting to employee concerns, The Group offers a way for you to develop your business while reducing the time and trials of doing it alone. The secret is knowing just what to do and when to do it, then pulling things together to make it all happen. This is what The Group is all about... helping you achieve your goals one garden center at a time.

The People Involved

The Garden Center Group was created to provide a full-service menu of expert advice that deals directly with the most important business functions facing garden centers today and in the future. We knew that would mean bringing together experts from within the garden center industry as well as professionals from other fields. The result is a network of professionals with specific talents that provide garden centers with the most innovative ideas and solutions in the industry... proven methods that take the guesswork out of important business decisions.

The Garden Center Group's Team of Service Providers

Group Staff
Robert Hendrickson, Managing Director
Wendy Hendrickson, Client Coordinator & Events Manager
Carol McAllister, Administrative Assistant

Business Strategies/Marketing
On-Site Consultation
Robert Hendrickson, Solutions Consulting Service, Inc.
Sid Raisch, Horticultural Advantage

Employee Training & Development
Kathryn Dager, Profitivity

Financial Management and Analysis
On-Site Consultation
Steve Bailey, Financial Analysis Consultant, The Garden Center Group

Human Resources
Jean Seawright, Seawright & Associates

Media Placement
Mary Gaskell, Gaskell Media

Merchandising
Terri Coldreck, Color Results

Property Development and Site Design
Robert Hayter, The Hayter Firm

Television Commercial Production
Website Streaming Video
Steve Gibbs & Robin Desjardins, First Image

The Garden Center Group's Team of Group Vendors

The following list of companies are ones that have agreed to provide garden centers in The Group with special products, pricing and/or new introductions. Since we are not a traditional buying group, our goal is to develop vendor relationships for long term mutual benefit... not make decisions based on who offers the best "deal" for their goods. For that reason, our choices for Group Vendors remains small but very important for all parties involved.

Greenhouse Structures
Cravo
Nexus Greenhouses

Benches/Display Tables
Bench Systems, LLC

Slat Wall Systems
storeWALL

Garden Accessories
Border Concept's Wrought Iron Collections
Fafard
Cool Springs Press
Oldcastle Lawn & Garden
Tierra-Derco International
West County Gardener Gloves
Mud Gloves

Pottery
Border Concepts International Pottery Alliance

POS (Point of Sale) Systems
The Retail Computer Group
Shopkeeper
SimPOS!

Perennials/Trees/Shrubs
Novalis Partners - Carolina Nurseries,The Conard-Pyle Company,
Imperial Nurseries, Willoway Nurseries

Marketing & Advertising
Sunrise Marketing
Constant Contact
Arlene Tannis Voice & Production Services
Muzak

Signage System
GrowTech Solutions

Direct Mail Services/Carrier Route Maps
Kristy, Intelligent Direct Mapping Division