"Tires ain't pretty"

Kevin Reily
Rockledge Gardens, Inc.
Rockledge, Florida

Each day when I wake up I thank God that I'm not going to work to sell tires. "Tires ain't pretty" and plants are beautiful. I have been involved in our business, a retail garden center, for 32 years and with my wife Theresa even longer. Yes, there are days when I seem to take 2 steps forward and 3 steps backwards, but I can't think of any other industry in which I would rather be involved.

Yesterday's garden center could have been operated on auto-pilot. Today's garden center definitely needs constant molding and nurturing. Because we have been in business for a zillion years does not guarantee anything. Operating an independent garden center in Florida is more challenging than ever. This includes keeping the consumers interested in our products and services. We must raise the bar. Buying tires might be a necessary evil. Some would argue that buying plants is not necessary. We as an industry, garden centers - growers - landscapers - designers and allied, must work together communicating the message “Gardening Is Fun!”- “Gardening is not a four letter word!” – “Gardening enhances the quality of life!”

Theresa and I have found great resources in networking with other garden center operators as well as our vendors. We can bounce and borrow ideas, tweaking them to make them work for us. We learn what is coming down the pike as far as new products, new ideas and new regulations. We have done this by participating in the Garden Center Group, Garden Centers of America and FNGLA along with attending trade shows such as FNATS and TPIE.

So now at the end the day I am thanking God for the days we are able to take 3 steps forward and only 2 backwards.