2008 National Winner:
Hillermann Nursery & Florist
Washington, MO

Hillermann Nursery & Florist in Washington, Mo., has adapted to the changing needs of its market to stay on top of its retail game.

 

 

 

The only constant in retail is that everything changes. The mark of a quality retailer is in the reaction to those changes. The mark of a revolutionary retailer is the ability to make that reaction appear seamless and fluid - and to make a profit from it.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist in Washington, Mo., has done just that over the past several years as owners Sandi Hillermann McDonald and her brother Scott Hillermann have watched their surroundings change dramatically.

The city of Washington boasts just under 14,000 residents, but that number is quickly exploding with new housing developments sprouting up. This friendly, quintessential small Midwestern town built its economy first on shoe factories in the first half of the 20th century, then moved on into high-tech manufacturing and other industries. The visitor's bureau touts top-notch vineyards and the fact that Washington is the home of the corncob pipe.

This all makes for a town in which everyone knows each other's names - at least that used to be the case. "We used to be able to know every customer walking in the door growing up in a town like this, but now that's changing," Sandi says. She not only grew up in the town, but also in the business, becoming a full-time employee in 1970. "It's a little hard for me to get used to. I used to enjoy working with the customers; that was the relational part - getting to know the customer."

Scott, too, grew up in the business - he has worked all his life at Hillermann, starting full-time in 1995 after taking horticulture classes at the local community college. "I think it's amazing how fast things have changed in our small town. Lots of growth, lots of unfamiliar faces," says Scott, who is also the vice president and facilities manager.

Changing The Game
Today, with a highway expansion in front of the retail operation that will no doubt increase traffic, Hillermann Nursery & Florist is facing a new customer. The regulars are still there, but there are also new faces continually walking through the doors. The challenge for the operation is how to best serve these new customers while continuing to provide for the old ones. It's a challenge many are facing, and one the Hillermanns responded to quite well.

The first order of business was to update technology. The point-of-sale system is through Activant, and Sandi and Scott were on the forefront by purchasing the system 11 years ago. But they had an increasing need for better, more specific reports, and hardware upgrades helped provide the reliable technology needed to track inventory and selling needs. Sandi and Scott also worked with Activant to write special programs allowing them to create more reports. The better POS setup also allowed them to begin a rewards program, which in turn helped them identify their best customers - and they weren't always the ones who were frequent shoppers.

"We started a garden reward loyalty program - that's been pretty eye opening," Sandi says. "We had the bonus buck program like you see lots of people have, but it was hard to see who our best customers were. The customers I cannot even put a name to might be our best customer.

"It makes you focus a little more on a customer's wants and needs. We're working on taking our marketing and focusing more specifically to our customers' niches. When it comes to our customers, we're seeing a huge change in 'I want to do it myself' to 'do it for me.'"

Reacting To The Customer
Because of the increase in "do it for me" customers, the landscape portion of the operation is seeing greater growth.

Hillermann is set up a bit differently from other retailers. It has three profit centers that all report under one Profit & Loss statement - retail (garden center and florist), landscape (maintenance and design) and equipment sales and service. So it is well-equipped to provide the exact services needed by its customers with only minor tweaks to the offerings. If you ask Scott, it's the "variety of services and products we offer to our customers" that makes Hillermann revolutionary.

But Sandi's goal over the next five years is to increase foot traffic and revenue in the garden center and florist part of the business. She is reacting to the customers' needs in her area by providing drought-tolerant plants and focusing more on them as the drought conditions worsen in her region of the country. She also is increasing the amount of earth-friendly products in response to the growing demand for "green" materials.

"We have decreased over last two years our chemical section and doubled the 'natural' gardening products, friendly for pets and kids," she says. "We're not all purist organic but beneficial for the earth. We're trying to educate the consumer, and we've always done pot recycling for consumers."

Those "green" efforts translate to the growing facility the Hillermanns own, as well. That growing site is currently only a portion of what it was because of a flash flood that wiped out 4 acres the Sunday before Mother's Day nearly eight years ago. But in the space used for growing perennials, hanging baskets and combination planters, growers practice water conservation with drip irrigation. Also, some of the plants are being grown and retailed in rice hull pots, providing customers a more earth-friendly way to plant.

Along with all that, Scott says, the operation remains on the forefront by traveling to trade shows and seminars within the green industry to make sure it's on top of any new trends and retail concepts.

Behind The Scenes
There are other ways Hillermann has provided the best possible products and services for its customer base, but they aren't always seen by the actual customer. One is tightening buying to reduce inventory and provide customers with a better mix of products. Before, Sandi says, the offerings were sort of a mishmash of products with six to seven people doing the buying.

Now, there are four buyers with very precise goals. Two are green goods buyers - one for color for growing and retail, the other trees and shrubs. A third buys all the hardgoods for everyone - from bulk materials to block, chemicals, tools and irrigation, she says. And the fourth is also a visual merchandiser and buys gifts, outdoor living, pottery and accessories.

"This spring will be a full-year cycle of buying for them, and it's worked out wonderfully well," Sandi notes. "We've been able to drop inventory by 20 percent.

"They all work out of one office, and throw ideas off one another. We don't have all the kinks worked out, but it will be come spring."

The four also are in charge of marketing and promoting the various products they buy, and putting together the marketing plan for 2008. That way, they can plan the times to push certain products and look for opportune times to promote those products.

Labor is also a major issue behind the scenes at Hillermann, and it's something Sandi admits is her biggest challenge. The retail operation is open year-round, and many employees stay on during the "off" season. "We've got some awesome employees and it just gets difficult, say from mid-December to March 1, to hold onto that core group of people," she says. "We do our best - we send them to training, we take advantage of trade shows."

Alongside the training, they reduce hours based on the POS system reports showing staffing levels. During the off-peak times, there are about 70 employees at the operation. That rises to 110 seasonal and full-time beginning April 1. And though it's difficult, the effort has paid off with the loyalty of many employees.

"The best thing about my employees would have to be their loyalty, their pride in their job, their longevity and their sense of family," Sandi says proudly. At the recent holiday party, the company honored one employee for 35 years of service, and another for 30. That's not uncommon at Hillermann. "They do consider themselves extended family; they're a great team."