When it comes to live goods, the go-to phrase for successful garden center retailers is “color sells” – but that doesn’t have to stop at you annuals or what’s in the perennial yard. What follows are some new tools and gloves that would look great on your tool wall – not to mention, in your customers hands – because color sells.

Fashionable & Functional

Mechanix Wear gloves got its start back in 1991, showing up on the hands of the NASCAR pit crews. Today, this durable and masculine glove company caters to construction workers, everyday mechanics and military professionals. It wasn’t until a little more than two years ago this glove company decided to get in touch with its feminine side and created the Ethel Gloves lines exclusively for women.

This garden-glove line is designed off of a female model, says Kimberly Cortez, Ethel Gloves senior account specialist. “We realize that women want to get their money’s worth, but also want to express their individuality, so it’s important that we give them choices to fit their personality and still offer a product that will stand up to any job they need to do.”

Ethel Gloves come in three styles (traditional, bamboo and rose) and a variety of hip and colorful designs.

Practical Individuality

The team at Dramm makes sure fashion and function isn’t limited to gloves, but carried throughout your tool wall. “Last year we came out with compact shears and compact pruners, and because that did so well, we designed the ColorPoint bypass lopper and bypass pruner this year,” says Jessica Reinhardt, Dramm marketing assistant. Dramm’s shears and pruners have been featured in popular consumer magazines Better Homes & Gardens and Oprah Magazine, both of which have helped generate additional interest on retailer and consumer levels.

But why is color a good option for tools? “Our main target is women and when a woman buys a car, one of the first questions she’ll ask is ‘what color is it?’” Reinhardt says. “Dramm started using colors with our Rain Wands in the late ‘90s. Women like having fun tools that fit their personality – plus they don’t get lost in the lawn.”

Understanding Shopping Habits

Having the color option is great, but sustainability and domestic production can be additional sticking points for your tool customers. Joe Saffron, Ames True Temper director of marketing and product development, says, “We continue to hear folks are immediately knee-jerking down to the lowest price point item, but that’s just not necessarily true. We’re seeing a strengthening in consumers gravitating to the medium product in a good-better-best scenario.”

Saffron adds the sustainability trend is something that remains undeniable. “People will continue to have an increased sense of environmental responsibility,” he says. To meet those needs Ames has developed the True Temper Eco-Gardener long-handled tool line (top left). The handles in this line are made of bamboo and the shovel heads are made of reclaimed steel from railroad rails. Along with a new green line, for 2011 Ames will launch its True Temper True American Line of tools. The 17 tools in that line are 100 percent domestically sourced and produced.