This is our story of green garden gates, the most successful group of 746 garden centers in the United States. Follow our adventure building our first store which starts at entry #1, A little Zen, some Zip Ties and a lot of Zinnias! We welcome your questions and comments by posting to this blog or by contacting nickhudson@earthlink.net
(copyright: nick hudson 2008)
The Columbia was broad and flat that July morning. Wind surfers were hanging outside the old Hood River downtown coffee shops catching the morning sunlight, waxing their boards for the afternoon breezes that would whip whitecaps on the river. Later, flocks of tiny sails will glitter, bob, and jump, scattering on the surface, turning at once, together, as leaves flip across a lawn when the sudden air shifts.
We gathered outside on antique iron and cushion patio chairs near the edge, overlooking the river to ask and answer the questions.
Who are we?
We are green garden gates, a group of garden stores dedicated to offering the best plants and plant care products for the American gardener.
We define gardening as an activity where the focus is plants and plant care. We define gardeners as people who engage in this activity.
Why do we exist?
We exist because our customers are attracted to our commitment to them, the gardeners and other who garden. We exist because gardeners can find our same commitment with all of our green garden gates stores as they travel, work or live elsewhere. We exist because we support the gardeners, their fellow friends, their neighborhoods and their local communities.
Where are we headed?
Our long term goal is to operate many green garden gates stores in every community of significant size in America. We want see green garden gates as a lasting place in those communities long after we are gone.
Where do we need to be during the next five years?
We will establish a single store within twelve months. We will establish a cluster of two to three stores within thirty-six months. We will establish a second cluster of stores within sixty months.
Where do we need to be this year?
We will observe, test and research. We will identify and make changes and modifications to our plan. We will solidify our operating leadership structure and target a geographical location. We will build and establish a model prototype store.
It is when I stand there at dawn, at dusk, in the stillness of the canyon. It is when I feel the warmth of the basalt walls that dig deep into the earth, nudging the wide Columbia to the sea. It is on that narrow ancient road where the life of Oregon bursts forth. I drift and dream of the river and the walls.
It is the gorge where I always return.
Sammy, Twyla, Nick and Sarah greeted each other in front of the massive basalt fireplace of the Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Oregon. It seemed fitting that this would be their starting place in a long journey. The elegant white Mediterranean building overlooked the river and the gorge. The manicured Oregon native gardens and stone bridges welcomed quiet thoughts in each of them, their pasts and their futures.
Joining the four near the end of the three days would be John Banks, Sarah’s husband, to discuss the core professional needs of this venture; investment and finances, legal processes and accounting functions.
Over the last two months, each had been assigned specific tasks. They were given a list to visit and observe the fifty most successful and innovative garden stores in the United States. In addition to completing a prepared set of questions common to the stores, each was to pay particular attention to the areas of concern they would have for green garden gates. Sarah had contacted these store owners and they agreed to help the four as they gathered information about those operations. They divided the fifty stores by the proximity to their homes. Sarah took the west coast and the northern mountain states and northern Midwest. Sammy from New Jersey, did the stores in the upper east coast and the inland northeast. Twyla, based in Colorado, visited the southeast and lower Midwest. Nick, from Florida, was given the southern east coast and inland south.
Sammy had developed methods of communication for their store visits and as a beta test for future communications among the group as the business developed. Each would carry iphones, laptop computers, digital cameras. portable fax and copiers as well as Garmin GPS navigators. They would share notes by instant messaging, Twitter and e-mails. There would be discussions each evening by video conferencing and “white board” technology. Conversations with store owners , customers, suppliers, and others could be by interactive live video feeds remoted to the four. All discussions notes, messaging and daily reports would be backed up and stored online for future reference to a secured Internet site.
To finance the research, living and travel expenses, and the purchase of equipment, John Banks had enlisted the support of a private investor who had great interest in being a part of green garden gates. He financed this research with an “angel offering” ownership of green garden gates.
Twyla researched in her area of concern:
Buildings and structures
Parking and loading flows
Zoning and land use
Demographics of the communities
Competitive forces facing the stores
General climate and specific weather factors
Health of the commercial market
Employment opportunities
Direction and priorities of local governments
Transportation and shipping patterns
The available of modern technology
Travel, shopping, working, and leisure transportation routes
General culture of the community
Community building themes and materials used
Local building ordinances
Proximity to other communities and potential sites
The real estate activity
sources for locally grown plants and products
junk shops and salvage yards
Sammy was assigned to pay particular attention to the store's computer related technology.
Monitoring the physical plant
Customer transactions
Inventory control
Capturing and holding the customer
Display and information
Communication among the staff
Outreach to the general community
Repairs and maintenance of the technology
Outsourcing of computer technology needs
The use of websites
The use of blogs
The use of social sites; Facebook and Myspace
GPS technology used
Advertising and promotion on related sites
Printing and reproduction technology
Accounting and payroll reporting technology
Financial reporting technology
The use of Internet technicians
Sarah was to look at the visual presentation, promotions, customer services, and accounting/reporting processes.
