The Fall Event 2016 Tour
Wednesday, September 28
9:00am - 7:00pm
The Fall Event Houston Tour
We’ve put together a full day of retail garden center tours... five very diverse centers, all with different
strengths. One with emphasis on gifts and floral, one with a stronghold on water gardening, one that
learned how to flourish when Big Orange moves in next door, one that has leveraged their position in the
midst of community growth, and one that has become the best rated garden center in their hometown.
You will have an opportunity to witness first hand – an up close and personal look followed by a more
in-depth analysis of each center during our post-tour Learning Lab.
Cornelius Nursery, Houston, Texas
The day will begin with the first stop, just minutes from our
hotel, at Cornelius Nursery. Serving Houston for over 75
years, Cornelius Nursery began with the adventurous spirit
of the Cornelius boys, Sterling and Frank Jr. Their goal was to
provide the finest plants for Houston gardens with a focus on
quality. The nursery grew to include a home decorating center,
with the help of Sterling’s wife Margaret, to become the highlight of Christmas displays for years to come! Today, as part
of Calloway’s Nursery, Cornelius Nursery carries on its great
traditions with a wonderful selection of plants, a highly trained
staff of horticulturists, and a premiere design center for interiors.
Nelson Water Gardens & Nursery, Katy, Texas
Over the past 20 years, Rolf and Anita Nelson have
created a unique retail nursery with focus on water
gardening. They offer an unconventional balance of
product that includes a variety of herbs, vegetables,
annuals, perennials, and a limited selection of shrubs.
While they carry the classical water gardening supplies,
the sales of disappearing fountains has expanded to
take the lead.
The Nelson’s were
the first to bring
disappearing fountains to the marketplace and have a proprietary design on
reservoirs for the disappearing fountains which they wholesale. They also
offer installation of their disappearing fountains and have a design-build
division for full scale water gardens and streams. They produce their own
crops of water lilies and marginal (bog) aquatics at their
off-site production farm. Nelson’s has a service crew to
provide maintenance for water gardens and disappearing fountains, primarily those they have installed. They
hand pick and import pottery from Vietnam and Bali
to select what they want and pass on ideas for styles
and colors. The Nelson’s joined The Group this spring.
Please help us give them a warm welcome!
It takes a little bit of art and a little bit of science to develop a successful garden center... from design and layout,
buying and inventory, visual merchandising and marketing, to operations, – and most importantly, making a profit.
Trying to go it alone is doing it the hard way. The Garden Center Group offers you access to the most innovative ideas in
the industry. Proven methods that take the guesswork out of important business decisions. And sharing is at the heart of
The Group... a community of professionals with one goal in mind... helping each other build successful companies.
8