Value.
“What’s on sale?”
We are asked this question daily it seems. (Credit that to the big name retailers in this country for throwing that imaginary “lowest prices of the season” sale every other weekend.) Of course, nothing wrong with shopping for the lowest price... price-savvy consumers have a right to shop around and find the best deal they can, right? Too bad many consumers base their buying decisions solely on price.
Why is only shopping by price bad? It isn’t if you don’t mind what size the plant is, or the size of pot it is planted in, or the quality and health of the plant, or the exact variety of the plant, or the service you receive, or, you get the idea. Anything will do then, and price rules. You could buy a cactus for your water garden and you wouldn’t care because you got it for 49¢ and you’re happy. No problem with that.
But it becomes a problem for the consumer who does care about those things, but does not compare apples to apples, thinks they got a great deal, and then later find out they were misled or didn’t get the correct information. It happens all the time.
So, you’re looking for a garden center who sells Petunia flats. Do you automatically go to whoever sells them the cheapest or who currently has them on “sale?” Or do you actually check them out in person to compare the variety, selection, quality, and size? If you want that hot new Heuchera or Echinacea, do you call around to see who has the best price only, or do you ask other questions like how large the plant is, or how mature the plant is, or what their guarantee is on the plant, or what help they will give you when you stop in to pick them up?
You see, price is a big issue for most of us, no doubt about it. But it is a surprisingly smaller issue than most think, especially when it comes to the extremely huge world of plants, and the extremely competitive world of garden centers.
What may even be more surprising... the garden center that you thought always had “high” prices, might actually have the lowest price for what you are getting in return.
And what do we call that? Value.
posted by wwgreen @ 9:04 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
sounds like you guys are the ones with the high prices, I can buy a flat for $6 almost anywhere, you guys are $10, wheres the value in that?
Anonymous - I assume you are speaking of annual flats. Our flats are priced at $9.39, not $10.
You are correct, you can purchase flats for around $6 at some other garden centers.
But as the original post was intended to point out, are the $6 flats' quality, variety, selection, service, guarantee, size, etc. the same as the higher priced flats?
If they are the same, then $6 is a great deal! If they are not, then you must decide what is most important to you.
Prices for some things like flats is not a real big deal but with hanging baskets you do get what you pay for. Compare hanging baskets at WW to places like Meijers or Lowes or Family Fare. WW's are more expensive but they are much nicer. I would never purchase a lousy looking basket at one of those other places they are a joke.
A couple weeks ago, I purchased two plus flats at a very large greenhouse in Allendale. They were exactly the color I needed, so I decided not to wait. The last two days I've spent planting and rearranging perennial beds and getting those flats into the ground. To my disappointment, those flats which I'd babied, had the smallest roots except on the tops of the flat where the plants had become entwined. I had to discard some and hope for the best with others. Because our growing season in Michigan is fairly short, I'll hold out for the larger cells at WW next time. The larger root system likely is weeks ahead of these smaller ones.
I think a lot depends on who is running the company. I just stopped by Lowes to see what they had, and they were very helpful when asked. But they dont seem to do anything extra for you. They know their bottom line and they stick to it. I havent been to WW this year but in previous times they were the ones to come up to me and ask if I needed help. And they ran all over the place trying to find things for me. Its easier to spend more at a place that seems to have your best interests in mind, instead of their bottom line.
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