General Garden guidelines

 

One thing that can be tough about the garden center is that not every single situation can be addressed during training. Sometimes the information can feel overwhelming, and you end up forgetting about half of it. This page is to help you remember some of the basics, and some infographics to help answer general questions. 

First, let's talk about our brands. Here are a couple of photos below that talk about our primary brands, and type of flowers we provide. Take your time looking over these, as you should become familiar with the varieties. 
We have brands that come from other vendors, as well as product that we grow ourselves. The three big ones you'll hear me talk about - Proven Winners, Garden Exclusives, and Wave Petunias. These are important because these three brands have specific planogrammed (specific placement) spaces that they are designated to. This does not mean that these brands cannot ALSO be placed elsewhere we think they will benefit from- more shade or more sun, or to be sold in a high location area. It does, however, mean that these items will need to be prioritized into their designated spaces. 

With that being said, you can look over these layout plans. Many garden centers are different, but this is a general layout plan for most stores. The first three tables within the garden center (This would mean the tables inside the garden center gates, not the ones outside in full sun) are prioritized to the three main brands, in order. This order is first table, Proven Winners (large variety of product). The second table is for Garden Exclusives (large variety of product, slightly cheaper prices compared to proven winners). The third table is for Wave Petunias (mostly petunia based with some filler). These brands pay for special locations within our departments and it's our duty to uphold our end of the deal. The greenhouse layout is also general and can be adjusted depending on the greenhouse. 

The following are some infographics to keep in mind. First is overall merchandising priorities. You will have your checklists that you can reference, but you should always focus on your main priorities. 

First, helping customers. Even though we are vendors in Meijer and cannot assist with many questions, we should try to be the experts in our product and should assist with what we can, reasonable. If a customer needs something, it is our priority to assist them above all else. This may mean stopping your watering to answer their question, lead them to the area they need, or lead them to a Meijer associate for help if it is out of our realm of knowledge. 
2nd - Product care. This is a big one. We can have a messy, unorganized garden center that is well taken care of it and it will still sell. However, it doesn't matter how pretty the garden center looks - if all of the plants are dead. It is our top priority to make sure that product is watered, and in the correct light. We do not want product to burn, dry out, or get heat exhaustion. Shade product should be in the shade, part shade product should get a half day of sun, and full sun product should get the most amount of sun you can provide. 

3rd - signage. A display that is not properly signed is likely to get looked over. Customers are drawn to price and may be budgetting. If they don't LOVE an item, and don't see a price - they likely won't buy it. I promise, you want people to buy the product. That means less that you have to care for and more space for better displays and more product. 

4th - Cleaning. We should always leave the garden center in better shape than we left it. It is our job to clean up our own messes, and not rely on Meijer to do it. This can harbor resentment from Meijer associates, and it's also just not a good look! The more we treat Meijer as our team, the better off our entire season will go. 

5th - Toss - You can easily do your toss while you are doing your watering. As you are watering your product, you should be keeping an eye out for product that won't return. If you feel unsure, we will work on that more. A good rule of thumb for toss - if you wouldn't buy it for your mother, you should toss it. 

Toss can be a big source of stress. Please see the toss page for more answers. 

Lastly, 6th. Display maintenance. This can include pruning, dead heading, and reorganization. Sometimes the floral department and garden center are big games of tetris. You will pick up and move product a lot of time. That is a big aspect of your job and one of the best ways to get your hours. If something doesn't look good, we should be taking the time to move it and figure out where it should be. 

Branding your display is a big deal - it adds to the overall appeal and keeps like product together. 

The name of the game - plan for laziness. If you know that you or others will not be able to easily water something in a specific spot, do everything you can to avoid putting product in that spot. Everyone has bad days. Work smarter, not harder. 

Lastly, a product list if we are on the last of a product and have lost the tag - Meijer employees may need this occusionally. Remember where it is and how to find it, you just may save the day. And a garden center hours of operation. The hours do change based on the time of year.