Saturday plans 5/21

 Happy Saturday, 

It’s been a stressful few days! I want to touch on a couple of things I may not have made clear to everyone. 

1. We need to be making an active effort to check the labels on every item for sun or shade. I have not seen it often, but I have seen it happen where we are putting shade product in full sun. This is a major concern because it will give those items bruising, burns, and other unsightly issues. This causes increased toss and effects our profits and numbers overall. One item I’ve noticed is a problem is the SUNPATIENTS - these typically come in the $26.99 and $18.99 priced hanging baskets and patio planters, but it also comes in their own individual containers (flats). Even though these are marked as shade, I have found overtime that they do not hold up well in full sun. Let me explain - Impatients are a popular shade flower. Basically a hybrid was made to be able to withstand more sun exposure, but we’ve found (from personal experience) that direct sunlight often causes major burning and makes these plants practically unsellable. Due to this, we will continue to treat these items as a PART SHADE item. 

2. Here is a very serious boss item - if you are not ready to work, don’t clock in until you are. It is important to me that the stores are staffed well, allowing everyone to hopefully not feel too much stress, and to take care of the product. I have to manage my budget hours in this, and when budget hours are wasted, it ultimately takes away from everyone. If you are found to be spending excess time walking the store, being on your phone, etc, it is considered time theft and it is a fireable offense. I speak regularly to management in the stores, and they will tell me if they are seeing behaviors that are not beneficial to the store. I will find out, and it is a very embarrassing situation. Most of you are great with this, so I really don’t want anyone to feel targeted. I just want everyone to understand that I give you a lot of freedom, but it comes with a lot of responsibility. Please, be respectful of my time and don’t waste it. thank you. 

Rack counts as follows 

114 Gahanna 3

246 Canal 5

234 Grove city 4

144 Lancaster 5

212 Reynoldsburg 3

I will continue to preach the same things right now 

- get in, move your racks and uncover from the plastic so they may be shopped from while you complete prep work. 

- water everything as needed. There is some planned rain, but we cannot rely on it and the weather is HOT this weekend. You should be watering until we see a few drips of water coming from the bottom when watering planters and hanging baskets. When watering flats, water evenly to make sure to get every cell. 

- work from the front of the store, to the back. This will make sure to prioritize the best product to the front, and fill the last stuff to the back end caps. This does not apply to planogrammed items - proven winners. Garden exclusives, and wave petunias. However, these items can go on the front tables if that is best. If you aren’t sure, just give me a call. 

-when working out new product, check it for watering. Sometimes it comes in well watered, and other times it doesn’t. I’ve noticed that many 8pk annual flats have been coming in dry. We should take the time to water the new items. 

- Stay on top of your signage - if the product is moving, the signage should be moving. If you don’t need the signage anymore, put it in a safe space. Most stores have a stack of extra signage that is not being used. I don’t mind tucking signage under an item while we are still actively working, but it should be getting worked into a metal or plastic sign holder before the day is over. 

-customer service is a major aspect right now. People are going to ask you if you think certain colors go together, and they are going to ask you if you have certain items. Take the time to look over your prodUct when you get in so you can help people. Take the times to learn the main names, and keep learning everyday! Those who learned didn’t learn in a day. It takes time. Keep working. 

For those who did not know - my boss (not the corporate visit, not sure what is happening with that, if it is still happening) made her visit and was very pleased with our stores. This was a huge win for everyone. Thank you for working hard. I appreciate all of you, even if I haven’t had a chance to tell you lately. Call me sappy, but I’ve got a great group of people and I feel blessed to have you. Thank you. 

For those who want to know- current sell thru at each store (total percentage of items sold)

114 52

212 56

144 58

246 63

234 59

We are always looking to be over 50%, so these are all good numbers. Good job.