Nursery outlets try not to wilt under big box heat

Home Channel News, July 17, 2000 by John Caulfield

Already, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute has been pointing to a sagging economy as the foundation for its projections that lawn mower shipments will be off this year and next.

However, Walt Minnick, SummerWinds' CEO, said he's seen little data which suggest that a softening in the economy has any substantive impact on consumer purchases of gardening products.

"It's been kind of a so-so, ho-hum year so far in the markets we're in [which include Phoenix and Vancouver], but that's been more weather-related than anything," said Minnick in a telephone interview on June 23.

He expected his company's business, which has been flat so far in 2000, to rebound next year primarily by going after the "serious" gardener with strong product assortments and service. "The big-box mass merchants have done an effective job of capturing the price-sensitive segment of the market, and the casual gardener. But that's not the market that independents can go after because, in the long run, Lowe's and Home Depot can always sell petunias for less."