About

Kansas City, Missouri, from Aug. 5-7 was the place to be for independent garden center representatives.

That's because of the Garden Center Conference & Expo, organized by Garden Center magazine and GIE Media.

Here, we're sharing some of our favorite moments from the show and looking ahead to what's to come in 2026.

State of the Industry: Finding Focus

"What I like about the data we have about the most profitable divisions is that it looks exactly like what a garden center should be: outdoor plants, indoor plants, outdoor living and pottery." -Patrick Alan Coleman, editor, Garden Center magazine

Editor Patrick Alan Coleman presented an overview of data from Garden Center’s 2024 State of the Industry Report, highlighting key insights from participants about the overall health of the industry, most profitable departments, revenue changes and much more. He took a deeper dive into research that was not previously presented and also offered insights on how the State of the Industry Report is connected to the new criteria for the 2025 Top 100 Independent Garden Centers List.

From Trend to Transaction: Capitalize on 2026 Garden Trends

“Consumers want more than plants — they want purpose, progress and a little bit of play. ... As more people dive deeper into digital spaces like AI and gaming, the craving for something real — something rooted — only grows. That’s why the garden industry isn’t slowing down. It’s just getting started.” -Katie Dubow, president, Garden Media Group

Solutions Session: The Future of Garden Center Retail: What Consumers Really Want

“It’s time that isn’t spent double-checking your work … If you’re thinking about implementing a digital system for inventory, it’s a time-save. Think of all the hours (you can) spend on something else.” - Anthony Domico, IT & Human Resources Manager, Vinland Valley Nursery

Square's annual Future of Retail report is based on insights from 4,000 consumers, revealing trends in evolving shopping preferences. Katie Miller, product marketing manager at Square, and Anthony Domico, IT manager at Vinland Valley Nursery in Kansas, unpacked this year's key trends and shared real examples on how they’re using these insights to grow their businesses.

Financial KPIs that Drive Retail Profitability

“It’s a lot to measure, but if you don’t measure it, it’s hard to change it. You can stab at things, you can guess ... But if you measure it ... by category, you know who in the garden center you need to go talk to. You’re not buying this right. You’re not selling this right. You’re not pricing this right. It really gets it pinned down to exactly where the problem is without guessing, without wasting the time. So, you need to do it, you need to do it move your profitability in the right direction: up.” -Tim Quebedeaux, service provider, The Garden Center Group

Tim Quebedeaux spent two decades working in garden centers before joining The Garden Center Group in 2019 to help members with financial analysis and management. In his session, he detailed what he’s tracking in the group’s Weekly Department Review — which includes insights from more than 110 member garden centers — including transaction counts, average sales, inventory levels, general trends and other KPIs, as well as key insights from the 2024 Profit & Loss Study.

Lessons from a Decade-Long Journey of Succession Planning, a Sale Leaseback and Relocation

“For those hard decisions in a family business, it was monumental … to have that third person to be able to facilitate a discussion about what the family really wanted from the business.” -David Williams, vice president of operations & co-owner, Reems Creek Nursery, on the importance of a third-party moderator in succession planning

The idea that a family business “will take care of us" is a common one, but it only becomes true if you plan for it. All leaders need to formalize a plan to exit the business or role, and it's important that the transition of the company you've devoted your life to is strategic and not left up to chance. This session, moderated by Chris Cimaglio, managing partner of BEST Human Capital & Advisory Group and PivotPoint Business Solutions, dove into how Reems Creek Nursery in North Carolina navigated not only succession planning, but also a sale leaseback and business relocation. Susan Reavis, the former second-generation owner, and her son-in-law, co-owner David Williams, shared the challenges and triumphs of developing a succession plan to transition the company from Susan to David, executing a sale-leaseback strategy and what factors led to them deciding to move their business to a new location.

Keynote Session: Looking Back to Move Forward

“He was my hero. And I thought what he did was really amazing. And I thought some things are worth saving ... In order for you to change your organization, you have to change yourself. But what really helps keep you centered when you’re changing is you want to stay focused to what is really your purpose and what is true, and so I had to really get grounded in why I was doing this in order to embrace the fact that I had to change ... What is my why? What is my purpose? And your purpose can’t be ‘I want to make a lot of money.’ That's really not something that’s gonna sustain you when things are really hard. And so internally, I (bought back the family business, Stuckey's) because I love my grandfather, but there has to be an external component to change ... You have to figure out OK, so how can I translate that to a way that really other people are gonna care about? A lot of us care about family, tradition, things that are iconic and important and nostalgic to this country. That connection with the past while living in the present, that’s something that’s really special to all of us. So, I got grounded in something that was very personal to me and then learned I need to connect that with something outside of myself and build a community around that shared love. And so that’s really how I started to transform my thinking and getting my mindset right.” -Stephanie Stuckey, chair, Stuckey’s

The business Stephanie Stuckey’s grandfather, W.S. Stuckey Sr., started in 1937, Stuckey’s, had been out of the family for generations, but when it came up for sale in 2019, she sunk her entire life savings into buying it back — even though she said it had been “trashed” by outside owners and was six figures in the red. Her grandfather built Stuckey's into an empire — a roadside oasis that redefined America. Stephanie shared how she revitalized her family’s brand and brought it back from the brink.

How to Leverage AI To Gain a Competitive Advantage

“There’s things you want to use AI for and things you don’t want to use AI for. Do not start to rely on an AI for your daily tasks that you normally do because the daily tasks are part of what keep our mind strong. There’s studies coming out now of people who rely on AI for absolutely everything, and the decline of mental cognition that accompanies it is fairly shocking. So, use AI to extend your thought, not to replace your thought.” -Rob Sproule, co-owner and marketing director, Salisbury Greenhouse

The spotlight is on artificial intelligence and how businesses can use this technology to increase efficiencies. Independent garden centers that take time to learn more about it and use it as a tool are going to win. Rob Sproule broke down both the capabilities and limitations of AI and how retailers can use the technology to support everything from customer service and education to email marketing and automating recurring tasks. (Editor's note: Rob had an emergency that prevented him from attending the conference in-person, but he still presented his session virtually and live. We greatly appreciate his commitment!)

Managing & Motivating the Multigenerational Green Industry

“Understanding generational differences can help ease conflict and increase synergy.” -Paige Franks, senior executive search adviser, BEST Human Capital & Advisory Group

For the first time in history, five generations collide in the workforce: the Silent Generation, baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and Generation Z. However, the workforce faces mass retirements from the baby boomer generation every day. Generation Z is quickly permeating the industry, and millennials are stepping up to take over the preceding leadership positions, bringing new ideas surrounding technology, management and communication styles, company culture, and personal and professional values and expectations. Paige Franks shared various perspectives inspired by professionals across the four prominent generations in the workforce today (baby boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z) and provided insight into what once was versus today’s reality.

Solutions Session: AI for the Green Industry

“(AI) can help across your entire P&L ... I was getting a lot of questions yesterday about what’s the most successful use of AI, or what’s your most successful tool? And my question back would be what’s your key metric? Because you can really use AI to impact all of these key metrics — your revenue, your write-offs, your profit, your costs, your operating expenses, your marketing expenses — but it depends on what’s important to you. And then there are different uses of AI to either grow or reduce each of those pieces of your P&L.” -Ashley Wright, CEO, Plantista

In her session, Ashley Wright discussed how to overcome labor shortages, grow revenue and optimize inventory by leveraging AI, featuring tactical tools and insights.

Navigating Your Work Injury Claims With Empathy and Evidence

“It’s important to understand that psychological stress of an injury affects the physiology of an injury.” - Rob Townsend, senior clinical consultant, Bardavon Health Innovations

An employee’s perception of the workers' compensation process is just as significant as the quality of care provided while they are recovering from an injury. Employers have the power to have a positive impact based on effective communication and detailed information shared with healthcare providers. Rob Townsend reviewed cases in which both communication and documentation benefited or hindered this experience, and he also shared strategies to help businesses mitigate prolonged work injury claims.

Expanding with Experience: Petitti’s Lessons from a Complex Build

“I believe in three things ... I believe if you really take great care of your team, your customer and your community, it’s really hard to fail. Being a part of the community was one of the things that really made this happen a lot easier than it could have been, even as challenging as it was.” -AJ Petitti, president, Petitti Garden Centers

Cleveland-based Petitti Garden Centers opened its 10th retail location this spring. President AJ Petitti says he’d been hoping to open a store in Bath Township, Ohio, for two decades. The process to purchase the building started in May 2023, and after a lengthy rezoning process, construction began in March 2024, with the former office building transforming into a light-filled 30,000-square-foot garden center. Two greenhouses for Petitti’s live plant material are also be on the property, which happens to be right next door to a Lowe’s. In a conversation with Garden Center Editor Patrick Alan Coleman, Petitti shared lessons learned from the process, which was more expensive and complicated than when the company built three garden centers in 2018. He discussed what evolved in the building process, why the location was right despite a big box being next door and what other owners should consider when expanding.

From Seasonal to Steadfast Staff: Strategies to Develop Careers, Boost Morale and Drive Results

“We have to know the score because business is a game. That was the start of how we started to change the culture.” -Lyndsi Oestmann, owner, Loma Vista Nursery

Horticulture industry business owners Lyndsi Oestmann of Loma Vista Nursery and Robyn Schmitz of High Prairie Outdoors discussed proven strategies for building a resilient and rewarding company culture — one that supports both your people and increases your bottom line. The session, moderated by GIE Media Horticulture Group Editorial Director, Kelli Rodda dove into the tangible benefits of financial transparency, why profit-sharing may be a more practical option over bonuses, the long-term value of investing in full-time team members, and how cross-training during the onboarding process and beyond can prevent burnout and boost morale.

Profit from Pottery: How Incorporating Some Direct Import Can Increase Margins

“Mix as many items into the same container as possible. Mix pallets whenever possible. Have as many SKUs per container as you can and as many SKUs per pallet as you can.” -Zack Straus, president and CFO, Sloat Garden Center

For more than five decades, Sloat Garden Center has built a pottery business rooted in long-standing relationships and international sourcing. In this candid, numbers-backed session, Zack Straus broke down how to increase margins by not solely relying on distributors — without sacrificing quality, convenience or selection. He explained how direct importing — even at a small scale — can yield significantly higher gross margins on pottery (including freight, taxes and delivery), compared to the typical margins most retailers see. Just one container per year can cut your cost of goods, and even smaller companies can benefit.

How to Create a Third Place: Café , Meaningful Experiences, Zoning Considerations and More

“Listen to your staff if you’re thinking about if this concept will work, if you see something at another garden center. In the end, you have to take that idea back to your staff, and you need to have buy in.” -Matt Stueck, owner, Suburban Lawn & Garden

Independent garden centers have long offered more than plants and have created experiences and offerings that set them apart from big box competitors. In this panel discussion, leaders from exceptional Kansas City-area garden centers dove into the various ways they’ve become a “third place” in their communities and ideas that have helped make their companies destinations.

Family Tree Nursery has long focused on experiential retailing, and its in-store café in Shawnee has been so successful that the company added a coffee truck at its Liberty store and plans to build out a permanent cafe in the Overland Park location, said Jonah Nelson, CEO and third-generation owner of Family Tree Nursery.

Colonial Gardens has more than 400 public events on its calendar for the 2025 season — everything from alpaca brunches and plant bingo to music in the garden and farm-to-table dinners. These experiences and spaces — made possible in part with efforts to create unique zoning — drive engagement with customers. Colonial Gardens Executive Director Paul Abugattas also explained the effects of the business’ current restructuring and how efforts in creating these experiences are a driving force for not only traffic and increasing the average order value, but how this community outreach has helped foster a devoted and supportive clientele.

At Suburban Lawn & Garden’s largest location, there’s a fleet of golf carts for customers to use to get around the 40-acre location. It’s one of the things Suburban is most well-known for, along with its popcorn, said owner Matt Stueck.

These three IGCs were stops on the Garden Center Tour before the conference officially started. Each speaker on the panel, which was moderated by Garden Center Editor Patrick Alan Coleman, shared key lessons and takeaways on how they’ve built and created these additional revenue streams and branding opportunities that complement their garden.