Garden distributor changes with the times

Home Channel News, March 19, 2001

Wyatt-Quarles Seeds uses specialty products, rebate program to attract dealers

The Web page of the Wyatt-Quarles Seed Co. of Raleigh, N.C. offers plenty of gardening advice about plant selection, fertilizer application and pest control. It's a place for serious vegetable gardeners, the ones who grow turnips from seeds and worry about the proper ratio of sandy loam to peat moss.

But Wyatt-Quarles doesn't sell directly to consumers, and hasn't since the 1980s. The 110-year-old company, which started as a mail-order seed retailer, now distributes lawn and garden products to retailers in Virginia and the Carolinas -- three states where local residents seem to have long memories.

"A number of people still call us for advice," said Mary Ann Robbins, the Garden Master program director at Wyatt-Quarles. "So we try to be user friendly."

Wyatt-Quarles is one of 10 distributors that are members of Garden Master, Pro Group's lawn and garden marketing program. In essence, Wyatt-Quarles delivers the goods that accompany Garden Master's value-added services. More than 1,300 retailers do business with Wyatt-Quarles; of these, 25 are Garden Master dealers.

In addition to dry goods, Wyatt-Quarles carries bird and pet supplies, garden tools, planters, sprayers, giftware and other garden-related merchandise from 340 suppliers. Offering approximately 15,000 skus, the company did $21 million in sales last year. A nine-person sales force serves Wyatt-Quarles's dealers, which can mean everything from writing orders to stacking pots.

"If our [salespeople] are there when the truck comes in, they'll help with the merchandising and endcaps," reported Robbins. Sales reps will also visit garden centers during busy seasons to work the floor, she said. And sometimes they put in an appearance as the "Wyatt-Quarles Answer Man" who fields customers' gardening questions.

The dealers whose stores buy through Wyatt-Quarles range in size from the small florist who places a single yearly order to a garden center that purchases $340,000 per year. Through Pro Group's buying power, Garden Master retailers get special terms and prices. They also receive rebates based on their purchase volume. Garden Master dealers who attend the marketing group's fall show in Raleigh, N.C., can take advantage of specials and dealer incentives as well.

One of Wyatt-Quarles's largest Garden Master accounts is Logan Trading Company, located in a refurbished railroad station in downtown Raleigh. "The biggest advantage to the program is the buying power," said co-owner Debby Logan. "We don't have to buy as large a quantity to get a volume price." She uses the Garden Master circulars twice a year, in spring and fall, which she supplements with her company's weekly newspaper ads. In addition, Wyatt-Quarles offers a four-page color insert shared by its regional customers. Logan uses the back page, which is left blank for individual dealers, to promote a Saturday morning lecture series and other garden center events.

Jeff Rieves, one of the buyers at Logan Trading Company, says price is also a determining factor when he chooses a distributor. Whenever possible, Rieves tries to order through Garden Master because of the rebate. But service runs a close second to price, and, on some weeks, it's more important.

"I messed up an order once when I forgot [to get] 32-quart potting soil," he recalled. "I desperately needed it, so I called up Wyatt-Quarles. A pallet was here in one hour." Another time, when the warehouse forgot to send soil amendment, Rieves called the warehouse and a second delivery truck was sent out immediately.

Rieves likes the fact that his Wyatt-Quarles salesperson is familiar with Logan's customer base; on occasion, the sales rep will recommend against ordering a certain product. Rieves also admitted that he prefers dealing with a local distributor. "Wyatt-Quarles has been here [in Raleigh] forever," he said.

NICHE ITEMS SPECIALTY

All that being said, Logan Trading Co. is currently buying through several distributors. "There's no way a single company can carry every lawn and garden product," Rieves observed.

Robbins, the Garden Master program director at Wyatt-Quarles, knows that.

"We'd be living with blinders on if we thought [our retailers] were only buying from us," she said. By the same token, Wyatt-Quarles sells product to some Ace Hardware and TruServ dealers. As independent dealers, they all face the same foe -- big-box stores -- that keeps "chipping away at our customer base," Robbins said.

The smaller retailers can compete through unique product offerings, which is where Wyatt-Quarles comes in.

"Wyatt-Quarles is out there looking for new and different products on a continual basis," said Tom Rush, who runs the Richmond, Va., retail nursery at Strange's Florist, Greenhouse and Garden Centers. Like most specialty garden shops, Strange's won't stock ubiquitous items, regardless of who had it first. "We sold thousands of dollars of foam pots over the past two years, and now they're in all the chains," Rush noted.