Sarah Lindsey-Banks had to fight them all.
“Every town, every store, one by one, she sat with the owners of those Harley stores and stared them down. After all, this was a biker place, where men were men and tough shit if you didn’t like it. This was a place for grease and gears and shots and beers, where the only background music was tearing off the muffler and opening up the throttle. The idea of a little silver rack of cute womens' bandannas sitting next to the hogs was a sacrilege, an outrage that made those owners mad as hell. Every so slowly, the owners watched the ladies arrive and the cash registers ring and the battle was won.
So this idea convincing the others to mix a fine painting and an antique desk near the fruit trees was a walk in the park. She knew what those gardeners would buy and she knew where in green garden gates they would find it”
This area has a number of functions. It houses restrooms, a small retail office, work areas for performing needs in the complex, an indoor checkout area in days of unfavorable weather, and the heating and HVAC, electronic panels. It is the display area for products that require a clean environment away from the outdoor elements.
We believe, as we have expressed many times, that gardening is an adventure. Following our concept, this indoor area, this gift arena on the first floor of the blockhouse, is to be a gardening adventure store. We like high quality museum stores where products related to their collections are available to customers.
The interior is a simple design, with emphasis on fixtures that are practical but classical in look. This indoor area presents gardening beyond just the plants and plant care products. We offer for sale stationary and books, paintings and lithographs, gift packs of high end gardening tools, wall hangings, cups and mugs, wrapping papers, all with the theme of gardening.
Dirt and water and stains will kill the sales of these beautiful gardening products. If you want to sell quality and beauty, you have to have a place to display quality and beauty. No woman who drives up in a Range Rover is going to open her purse for a dog eared dusty birthday card.
The floor is unstained concrete that has been machined toweled to a polished high finish. Area rugs are positioned according to displays. The lighting is classic and simple
Some garden stores owners listened to their architects and stamp their concrete floors with raised designs. You know, the temple look. Ever tried to clean that rough surface or watched a lady with high heals gingerly walk over that rough rustic floor?
Some owners paint the concrete and paint and paint, over and over again each year because it chips and peels no matter what the paint guy will tell you. Some mix a stain in the concrete only to regret that colored floor when a new color for the store is needed. LEAVE IT NATURAL! You can accent other ways.
The walls and ceiling are sheetrock, taped and textured.
The sixties are gone. Forget the old barn wood. Use that stuff for accents, but don't wall up the place with dark old wood. This is a modern retail store, not a dungeon.
The windows, which do not open, are large to give the customer full view of the activity in the rest of the complex. There are two sets of automatic sliding doors, one set for customer use and one single door for use by employees manning the indoor/outdoor checkout station.
Automatic doors are expensive, but they are well worth the cost. You won't regret them ever. Get a couple of employess to learn all about how to maintain them and stop calling the door guy and paying out money
A. The indoor checkout area
The main counter is positioned directly adjacent to the main doors of the area. The back counters are used primarily for display of frequently requested items. All the exposed counters are rounded so that employees and customers do not get bruised hitting sharp corners. A sliding door opens automatically enabling the check out employee to move back and forth to the outside checkouts saving labor that normally would require two check-out employees during slow times. Other counters are used to laminate signs or produce descriptive tags. We see that a number of functions can be performed in this check out area.
B. The customer corridor
This area is kept open and unencumbered for customers as they enter and exit the retail store.
C. The seasonal display area
This square footage has been designated for seasonal display of giftware and other products.
D. Gardening product categories area
Most garden stores just line up their products on long rows of shelving. All the product categories run into each other. We have designed certain categories and have separate shelving for them: bird feeding supplies, pruning and grafting, seed starting, etc. Large signing above immediately directs our customers to those specific product areas. Most of the display counters are on rollers and can be easily re-configured for changes in design.
E. Manager’s Day Office
The manager has this small office to conduct daily business on the floor. It is enclosed and has glass windows to view the activity. Two floor safes as wells as a "gun safe" for till storage are near this office.
F. Staircase and exit doors
This is the staircase and landing leading to the second floor manager’s residence. A door accesses to the storage and receiving area.
G. Electrical closet
This area contains heating and cooling equipment as well as a hot water heater, telephone, cable, Internet and electrical panels for the store.
H/I. Restrooms
The restrooms are unisex facilities with no designated gender. We know that women’s bathrooms are more congested than men’s facilities.
We want to make both restrooms available to the genders. The are simple in design with utility and durability in mind
J. Access door to receiving and employee lounge area
Employees access through this door to clock in and out for their workday. That equipment is located on the wall of Section I.
K. Outdoor Checkout Station
This is one of two stations. A description of all the checkout stations will be discussed later.
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