May 21, 2013
GCA Best Bathroom Awards Opens Call for EntriesSource: Clint Albin, Garden Centers of America

Garden Centers of America's (GCA) Best Garden Center Bathroom Awards, now in their third year, recognize IGC retailers whose restrooms contribute to the store's favorable shopping experience. Here's how to enter.

Garden Centers of America’s (GCA) Best Garden Center Bathroom Awards, now in their third year, recognize IGC retailers whose restrooms contribute to the store’s favorable shopping experience. Convenient and clean restrooms rank high in women’s decisions on where to shop, according to retail visionary Paco Underhill, author of the best-selling books What Women Want: The Science of Female Shopping and Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. As part of GCA’s mission of recognizing and fostering excellence in garden retailing, the honors will be presented during a special GCA Membership Networking Lunch at this summer’s IGC Show, August 20-22, at Chicago’s Navy Pier.

The deadline for entries is 5 p.m. EDT, July 15, 2013.

The winner of the top honor, the Gold Award, will receive a plaque and comp registration for the 2014 GCA Summer Tour. Other recognitions will include a Silver Award and several Awards of Merit, honored with plaques.

To enter the competition, garden centers should send several photos of their store bathrooms, saved in jpeg file format, along with a brief paragraph about the bathrooms, the concept behind the designs and their benefits to the garden center. This information, along with the name of the store and key contact, address, phone and e-mail address, should be e-mailed to [email protected].

Last year, Baker’s Acres Greenhouse took the top honor among seven winning garden centers with its “Man Cave” restroom redesign, featuring a Mustache Wall O’ Fame, a life-size cutout of Han Solo and a collection of beer bottles lining the shelf near the ceiling. In 2011, the top award was presented to Barton Grange Garden Centre in Preston, U.K., for its stylishly contemporary garden-themed implements, including original flower artwork painted on the walls and flower-shaped high-fire porcelain urinals custom-designed by San Francisco artist Clark Sorenson.

For more information about GCA and membership benefits, visit www.GardenCentersofAmerica.com.