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Garden Centers of America™ members also receive these great benefits:
TOURS/EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Each year GCA members have the opportunity to get a ‘behind the scenes’ visit to some of the most outstanding garden centers in various regions of the country.
Summer Tour - The summer tour is held the third week of June each year. This year GCA tour will be traveling to Portland, OR visiting some of the awarding garden centers in the Northwest.
Holiday Tour – Held the third week of November, the Holiday Tour focuses on garden centers that do the Holiday season well. This fall GCA will be in Cleveland, OH.
Educational Programs - GCA also coordinates various educational programs at other venues, including the IGC Show in Chicago and TPIE in Fort Lauderdale.
EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMS
GCA members have the following programs available to set you apart from the store down the street and give you the GCA advantage. Programs include,
Exclusive Plants – Several nurseries and breeders (including Monrovia, Bailey’s, Conard Pyle and others) are partnering with GCA to give members an opportunity to purchase new introductions that are only available to GCA members.
Trees For Troops – Exclusively available to GCA members this program will provide free publicity and recognition for your store to increase Christmas tree sales while supporting a great cause – Christmas trees for our US soldiers and their families.
Benchmarking Surveys – GCA conducts a monthly survey to track sales on a regional basis, and which items are sales the best/worst. This allows the GCA members to compare their sales against to the nation and their region.
Additionally – GCA task forces are hard at work developing other ‘exclusive’ programs to help drive more profit to your bottom line. Programs being considered include credit card merchant accounts, human resources/hiring and others.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
One of the goals of GCA’s strategic plan is to be ‘the’ resource for independent garden centers and provide the most current tools and ‘Best Management Practices’ (BMP’s) so you can better operate your garden center. Programs available (or soon to be available) to members include,
Peer Networking – Have a question; need to talk with another garden center owner? Most GCA members are happy to share experiences or answer questions from other members. This can be done through your personal network developed from attending GCA events or through the GCA staff.
GCA List Serv – A popular way to pose a question or ask for advice to all GCA members on the List Serv.
BMP’s – In the MEMBERS ONLY section of the web site BMP’s will be posted to provide information and best practices for members. Initially these will include, employee handbook policies, community visibility and marketing practices. Other BMP’s will be added in the future.
GREEN POD PROGRAM
This program was first introduced on the Summer 2008 tour. The purpose is to help garden centers identify ‘green’ programs and ‘green’ products that the garden center may be interested in utilizing. The initial program has a web based informational format in which the garden center can find the 3 PODS - Plants, Programs & Practices, Products. Each pod contains resource information on green companies, programs, and products along with the people that are experts in this arena. Check back frequently to see newest ideas and latest updates.
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