Theresa and Kevin Riley of Rockledge Gardens.
Click here for a slideshow of images
from Rockledge Gardens. 

It’s ironic that Rockledge Gardens was born out of a decision by founder Harry Witte to break into the garden center business after a deep freeze swept through the Brevard County area in 1962. Ironic because the garden center, now in its 48th year, just experienced a massive cold snap in January that forced them into major frost protection mode for more than a week.

Witte’s daughter, Theresa Riley and her husband Kevin now own the garden center with Theresa’s mother Mary, and immediately began working with local radio stations and newspapers to provide expert information on addressing freeze-damaged plants, including an emergency seminar at the garden center on the topic.

It’s one example of many showing the dedication of the Rockledge Gardens owners and staff to be the go-to source for information in their area. It hasn’t been an easy road recently for garden centers in Florida with higher-than-average unemployment rates that continued to rise in 2009. Foreclosures mirror the unemployment rates, and the Brevard County area may not see recovery for a while with the end of the Space Shuttle program at nearby Kennedy Space Center, which is the largest employer in the county.

So how is it that Rockledge has been able to not only survive the downturn, but turn a profit in the process? Several key decisions made the difference this year, Theresa Riley says. As for 2010, the results will be in the fruits of their labors. Read on to see what helped in 2009 and what will move the needle this year.

Tough Decisions

Retailers often have to make difficult choices about vendors, suppliers and partners. Rockledge Gardens was no different, but in the end, the choices made all the difference. “We were evaluating all expense line items and making adjustments where possible,” says Theresa Riley. “After many years with the same bank and same accountant, we switched both due to economic reasons. The economy forced us to take a look at what would have otherwise remained status quo. The changes proved to be advantageous for us.”

The bank had been stalling on a line of credit that was greatly needed after major renovations at the garden center that included a new retail greenhouse, checkout building and information kiosks. The owners knew the renovations would pay off, but the bank, which the retailer had used since its creation, was taking months for approval. Another bank approached the couple and within a week had approved the loan and received all the Rockledge business. The lesson?

“People need to not be afraid to sever relationships they’ve had for years and years,” Theresa says, adding the accountant situation was very similar. The retailer had worked with the same accountant for decades, but fees were increasing and the service was becoming more impersonal. The Rileys listened to a positive referral from a boat company next door and found a local accountant with greatly reduced fees who gave them more time.

Fewer Sales, More Profit

The amount of annual sales at Rockledge has been in a steady decline for the past several years, settling out at about $2.25 million in 2009. However, the couple doesn’t look on that as a negative in any way.

In 2008 the operation broke even, and in 2009 it posted a profit, despite a reduction in sales. They recognized the trends in customer buying were lower price points and less spending per visit, reducing the average ticket.

Theresa and Kevin say they expect 2010 to be more of the same, with a slight uptick in spending.

“My theory is that people are just being much more conservative in spending what they have,” Theresa says. “They’re less likely to charge stuff. In the meantime you only have so much to play with. While the money is less, they still have some to spend, so how do we get them to come here instead of say, a restaurant?”

Enter Inspiration

To encourage increased visits, the garden center is stocking up on the big sellers from 2009: edibles like herbs, vegetables and fruit trees, as well as tools, plant foods, fertilizers and pest controls. On pest controls, Kevin says the organics line averaged a 25 percent increase in 2009, partially because customers were asking for them and partially because they are being recommended more by the staff.

“We’re glad to see that switch, and are pushing that switch more and more,” he adds. “We’re getting rid of some of the synthetic lines and increasing the organic lines.” Tools also saw a 10 percent increase, prompting the owners to order more lines in different price points.

Gifting has left the building, and in its place tools and garden accents are being positioned as gifts for gardeners. It all stays in line with the focus of this year, which is gardening to be healthy and spending time reconnecting with nature.

“We want people to find joy in the garden,” explains Theresa. “We are finding ways to help people connect in their gardens. We’re still predicting (sales) on the smaller end of things, but we’re trying to help them reconnect and rediscover the benefits of gardening.”

This is also promoted through a weekly e-mail, as well as through talks at gardening clubs, direct mail pieces to newcomers in the county and weekly seminars in the store on various gardening topics.

On Display

Most impressively, the benefits of gardening are communicated through display gardens at the store, which have themes and can do more for sales than any other effort, according to Kevin. “It’s all with the idea of inspiring people,” he says. “We encourage them to take pictures and steal ideas. We give them all the advice. It opens the door for educating the consumer, and it definitely leads to more sales.”

This spring’s gardens include a 1,500-square-foot edibles garden featuring some tropicals, but mostly apples, peaches, macadamia, passion vines and a grape arbor – specific varieties of these edibles that can grow in Florida but aren’t all that commonly seen.

Kevin also built an Asian-themed garden that will feature fountains, plantings and other accents that give it an Eastern world vibe.

To make room for the display gardens, the garden center has moved toward a strategy of buying less product more often.

“One of our advantages in being in Florida is that our growers are pretty close at hand,” Theresa says. “We would prefer to order more as needed rather than stocking large amounts. This has freed up some of our bed space to become the display gardens.”

The displays show customers what a great garden can look like, and all goes back to the main theme of bringing customers back to the Earth.