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 August 6-7, 2024 | Rosemont, Illinois

Help Your Customers Become More Successful: Panel Discussion

Date: Tuesday, August 8

Time | Location: 1:00 - 1:45 p.m. | Room: 203-C

Panelists/Guests:
Jennifer Brennan

Michael Fiore

Amanda Thomsen

Heidi Hornung


 Our industry welcomed roughly 18.3 million new gardeners as a result of the Covid pandemic, according to estimates. And of course, we want to keep them. So let's pat ourselves on the back for doing a good job teaching "Gardening 101" to our customers over the past few years. But is it time to up our game to "Gardening 102?" What is your in-store experience? How are your customers behaving in this uncertain economic climate? Are they spending like it's 2020 or cautiously doing so? How are you getting customers in your store when it's oh. so. tempting. to buy online? Once they're in your brick-and-mortar, what is your garden center doing to help budding gardeners cultivate their green thumbs so they're successful in their gardens and come back to your store for more? We'll hear from representatives of very different independent garden centers. We'll learn how they're doing and what they're doing to help their customers become more successful gardeners inside and outside. If you want your garden center to succeed in the short term for the long term, this is a not-to-be-missed lively discussion where attendees participate as panelists in the conversation.