Bloomin' Displays at a Garden Retailer

Over the weekend, I was out and about, and stopped in to check out a local garden center. for the first time. Skagit Valley Gardens & 'The Root Cellar Gift Shop' are located in Mt. Vernon, Washington (about 60 miles North of Seattle). I found some great examples of excellence in merchandising to share with you... starting with this:


Yeah, that's a truck - an old, rusty farm truck. (Probably gave out right where it sits!) But surrounded by tables of potted spring flowers, and filled with dirt & tulips, it becomes an instant eye-grabbing display fixture. This is a garden center, with big buildings and lots of land - they have to go BIG with visuals for impact. This is a perfect prop for the entrance display!

Inside the Garden Store? Another truck!

This one is older, but has been meticulously cleaned up. (Meaning it is old and rusty, but not dirty or cobwebby. Old is good. Cruddy is NOT.) It forms the 'draw' to a large display area filled with flower bulbs. Old crates are stacked up to bring the bulbs up to shopper height, and they are appropriate props for this product because just a few miles away, these same crates are used during the harvest of thousands of tulips & tulip bulbs.

Notice also the varied windows hanging above and behind the truck... this adds interest to the bare space up above. There is a lot of great 'arial' (overhead) display work in this shop. It all utilizes simple materials, but serves the purpose to direct attention to this area - even from a distance. I love the light, airy, open feel of the displays and the floorplan here.

To the left of that truck, there is this display. The FABulous window frames in the rear of this display were actually cut from the walls of an old house with a chainsaw - there is still siding attached! They stand 10' tall and are a great backdrop for the tall racks filled with vegetable & flower seeds.

The paint color on the window frames is a pale gray-white, so the foreground props are in a soft gray color to coordinate. Large flower seed packets fill the bin up front...this display is excellent. It pulls you in with detail, offers product prominently and with easy access, and there is plenty of room for several customers to move around.

You all know my penchant for using natural elements in displays - they have impact and they are usually free! These birch trees add height, scale, and a fairytale forest effect to this space...I'd bet they are actually branches trimmed from huge trees on the property. And, since this IS a nursery, they are again a very appropriate prop. Effective, impact-producing, and versatile.... do props get any better than this?!

Be still my heart. OK, so the shelf units painted bright colors? Awesome. Very eye-catching. Great way to set off and corral the myriad of miscellaneous garden products merchandised on them. But the finishing touch of placing patio umbrellas over them just does it for me. This looks planned, finished, and detailled - not like haphazard product shoved onto shelves at the last minute.

And really, how much 'extra' work did it take to achieve that? Maybe an hour to paint the shelf units, and fifteen minutes to place & open the umbrellas. It doesn't always take a huge effort to get a huge impact! HUGE ovation for the visual merchandising team at this business...they are doin' it RIGHT!

I'm sorry now that I didn't take any photos of the Root Cellar Gift Shop - but it was stellar! I was very impressed with not only the selection of merchandise, but the MANY lifestyle vignette displays that were executed with flair. I plan to return to have some of the delicious pies available in the Cafe, so I'll have more photos to share in the future...