Two of this summer’s biggest educational events are just weeks away. Have you marked your calendars?
First up is the American Nursery & Landscape Association’s (ANLA) Retail Roadshow, taking place June 16 to 19 in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio. This bus tour will highlight many of the major garden center players in this tri-city area, which the ANLA website calls the capital of mid-size retail. About 80 percent of attendees are owners and managers of independent garden centers of all sizes, and the other 20 percent is made up of growers and suppliers, according to the site. If you go, keep an eye out for Lawn & Garden Retailer Associate Editor Darhiana Mateo — she’ll be on the prowl for the hottest summer trends in all the garden center stops. Pre-registration for this tour ends June 9. For more information, visit www.anlatours.org.
Less than a week later, another group of industry professionals — and yours truly — will take the South by storm on the Garden Centers of America’s 2008 Summer Tour in Raleigh, N.C. The three-day tour will cover quite a bit of ground in North Carolina, including a non-industry retail stop at Trader Joe’s. There will also be three featured industry speakers: Robert Hendrickson, Robert Hayter and Sid Raisch. The reservation cutoff for this tour is June 6. For more information, visit www.gardencentersofamerica.org.
See you on the road!
