Garden Centres of America (GCA) has announced its ‘Fashion in Bloom’
event will be held September 20 to 22, 2007, at three venues: the
Conard-Plye Company, West Grove, PA; Homestead Growers, Davidsonville,
Md.; and the American Horticultural Society, River Farm, Alexandria, Va.
Garden Centres of America (GCA) has announced its ‘Fashion in Bloom’ event will be held September 20 to 22, 2007, at three venues: the Conard-Plye Company, West Grove, PA; Homestead Growers, Davidsonville, Md.; and the American Horticultural Society, River Farm, Alexandria, Va.
The event will provide independent garden centres an opportunity to get a fresh look at the new annuals, perennials, trees, vines, shrubs, and ornamentals that will be the ‘hot new’ varieties in the spring of 2008. Garden centre retailers will get to interact with the horticulture industry’s top companies, see new plant introductions and product displays and learn merchandising ideas.
According to Sandi Hillermann-McDonald, GCA president, the locations in 2007 will provide a more convenient venue than the 6 locations offered in 2005 and 2006. “We surveyed more than 200 garden centre owners that did not attend in 2006, and found the driving time between the host sites was our most serious problem to participation. While the ‘non trade show’ format in open air venues was viewed as a strong positive, the time required to visit all six locations proved to be a handicap.” According to McDonald, the three venues for 2007 are in close proximity to provide attendees a diverse and exciting view of new plant varieties and products.
New in 2007 will be a designated host hotel in the Baltimore area with shuttle bus service between the venues. This service will allow attendees to meet other garden centre retailers and network during the driving time. Having educational presentations, such as new retail trends, during the bus travel is also being investigated.
For more information, call 888-648-6463.
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