WASHINGTON – The American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) is filming their first virtual tour this week in Nebraska. The tour, titled Hop On the Bus, brings together five garden retailers from around North America to visit Mulhall’s and Campbell’s garden centers. The ideas and innovations captured on video will be released as a week-long event on ANLA’s Knowledge Center in late July 2010. Platt Hill, owner of Platt Hill Nursery (Ill.) and president of ANLA’s Retail Division Board, says, “This is an exciting opportunity to visit two amazing garden centers in a region that would not support a traditional bus tour. I have known the owners of these garden centers for a long time and I am very excited to be able to share their ideas with my entire team without the cost of a single plane ticket.”
The Hop On the Bus tour will deliver ANLA’s traditional behind-the-scenes look at the operations of the two host sites along with merchandising and product ideas. Corey Bordine, Bordines (Mich.) will act as a facilitator as Lisa Minter-Bustin, Minter Gardens (B.C.); Steve Gallion, Stauffers of Kissel Hill (Pa.); Merrideth Jiles, The Great Outdoors (Texas); and Steve McShane, McShane’s Nursery and Landscape Supply (Calif.) tour with hosts Dan Mulhall and Chris Campbell.
“I’ve been attending ANLA’s Retail Roadshow for years,” says Gallion. “It is really exciting to be part of this first effort to figure out how to capture the magic and value of a physical tour on video."
ANLA is collaborating with the Design Works/Fresh Brew Studios, a marketing and design firm with a long history working with garden retailers, to film and produce the tour. The tour is being produced with the support of the following suppliers committed to the independent garden center market:
•Bonide
•Master Nursery Garden Centers
•Bailey Nurseries
•Espoma
•Novalis
•Monrovia
•Ball Horticultural Company
•Imperial Nursery
The Hop On the Bus tour will be released on the ANLA Knowledge Center.
