Impacting An Industry

by LAURA HENNE
Assistant Editor
laura@greenhousegrower.com

BELL Nursery's labels read, "Instant Impact," a trademarked slogan that captures the color its plants offer landscapes and the positive influence the Maryland-based operation has become in the floriculture industry.

Since co-owners Gary Mangum and Mike McCarthy bought Bell Nursery in 1994, they've seen explosive growth in product and customer diversity and made a sincere effort to increase consumer plant awareness and government officials' industry knowledge, as well as improve Maryland's agricultural economy.

Growing Profits

Founded in 1977, Bell Nursery was originally dedicated to supporting the Mangum family's interior landscaping business. After the family sold the interiorscaping operation, it remained Bell's sole customer until 1992. By the time McCarthy and Mangum took over at Bell Nursery, they had already begun expanding its customer base to grow prospects and profits.

Two spring seasons spent in garden centers, listening to consumers' requests and negotiating with garden buyers paid off. Bell established an agreement with 32 Home Depot stores throughout Maryland and Virginia shortly after the big box retailer was getting started in Bell's region. The nursery also will serve the eight new stores opening in its market by next spring.

While Bell serves two national chain stores - home-improvement retailer Home Depot and Costco, a national membership chain - it strives to provide each with product that's unique to the stores' clientele. Home Depot receives standard material, but Costco won't accept product in plastic pots, thus marketing larger, more colorful finished items in terra cotta, stone, and concrete pots. Beyond the chains, nearly half Bell's business comes from large and small-scale landscape contractors.

Bell Nursery's commitment to top-quality product gives it leverage in negotiating shelf space at retail. "Without a premium product, you can do all the marketing you want and still won't sell it," Mangum says. Each plant is nurtured to optimum maturity and color, with sufficient spacing between plants for healthy growth.

Both co-owners attribute high quality end products to the 50 full-time employees they have at Bell's facilities, Whatever their function, every employee has a sense of ownership over Bell Nursery product and takes pride in it from start to finish, they say. That pride, along with an environment that promotes equality at all levels, has helped retain Bell's enthusiastic workforce.

Key managers play an integral role in the business' success, Mangum says. These include production and shipping manager Kevin Titherington, growers Tom Wheeler and Andy Meyer, and controller Tony Moe.

Purple Shirt Power

Realizing the need for ongoing care once plants reach store shelves, Mangum and McCarthy established Bell Nursery's own merchandising team three years ago. Headed up by managers Charlie Calhoun and Paul Chisholm, merchandisers are each assigned specific stores to produce attractive displays, maintain product quality, and - at times - answer consumer questions. Since its inception, the merchandising effort has increased demand across the board, Mangum says.

"What we saw this year more than ever before, because of our increased time and presence in each of the stores, was Home Depot employees referring gardening questions to our employees," Mangum says. "People were say' ing 'Oh, go ask the purple shirts - they know it!' It cost us a lot of time, but it was good for customer service."

In the future, Mangum and McCarthy hope to expand services to other growers. "Eventually we'd like it to evolve into a new profit center, by providing some staffing resources," Mangum says. "Providing better-looking plants and maintaining quality in the store can only help our entire industry with larger profits and better plant awareness."

Bell marketing strategies have continually improved, beginning with colorful, informative signs on each display. The signage combining plant photos, growing information, and Bell's locally grown, "Instant Impact" brand has really driven sales.

"Last year we shipped Home Depot 2,500 cannas, this year We shipped 10,000, and next year, we'll ship around 20,000," Mangum says. "I'm convinced it's due to signage because canna is the only plant we produce that's not in bloom when we ship it."

In March, Bell Nursery launched a new Web site, FlowerPlanting.com, as an additional Home Depot consumer resource. By printing the address on on Bell signage, the backs of "purple shirts" and on tents erected in Home Depot parking lots on busy days, the site has received tremendous response with 3,500 hits in its first year. Next year the site address will appear on plant labels, as well.

Educating EPA

Bell took the Food Quality Protection Act bull by its horns April 27, hosting an open house aimed at promoting safe greenhouse practices to members of the EPA's pesticide regulation board (see "Bell Open House," June 2000, page 102). Craig Regelbrugge of the American Nursery and Landscape Association coordinated the event, while Mangum and McCarthy helped 50 EPA officials - many of whom had never before set foot in a greenhouse get a better feel for the industry.

"They were interested to see how localized pesticide applications are," McCarthy says. "They said it really opened their eyes to the greenhouse, industry as a separate entity of agriculture and the ramifications shutting out some chemicals can have without proper review of all the factors."

Hatching New Growers

As industry veterans, Mangum and McCarthy are promoting floriculture's potential to Maryland's traditional farmers. By contracting two associate growers looking for supplemental income to their grain crop or poultry farms this year, Mangum and McCarthy are growing Bell's production capacity without building more greenhouses on its sites.

When the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) needed a tenant for a 120,000-square-foot greenhouse, Bell jumped at the chance to use the space. Mangum says initially the network concept was thrown into Bell's proposal to set the business apart from other bidders, but the idea was exactly what UMES officials were looking for.

Modeled after a poultry cooperative in which farmers provide chickens to food corporations like Perdue or Tyson, associate growers finish ornamental crops for Bell's wholesale market. Growing only two turns of spring crops in a 16-week period, network growers realize $80,000 gross profit before debt service and taxes. Growers' initial investments can be repaid in five years, according to Farm Credit Services. The contract then provides generous extra income, and successful growers have the first opportunity to renew their contracts and expand growing space. Janco and Rough Brothers greenhouse manufacturing companies provide associate growers with turn-key, half-acre greenhouse packages, which include a basic structure, generator, plumbing, irrigation booms, environmental controls, and construction.

Mangum and McCarthy hired John Waldrep, who recently sold Windmere Greenhouses, as a full-time range grower due to the program's rapid growth. The next two years will see nine more associate growers join Bell Nursery, one of which is a former tobacco producer. Considering the tobacco industry's volatile situation, Mangum and McCarthy predict these growers will be a good future resource.

In the off-season, associate growers attend educational sessions at Bell's Burtonsville facility. Once the spring season hits, Bell distributes flats of standard bedding plant material started in the UMES facility - to its associate growers. Waldrep will visit the growers weekly to inspect the plants, give hands-on training, and answer questions. Maryland Cooperative Extension Service (CES) agent, John Speaker also visits the growers and supplies technical information.

"We think long-term it's a great way to expand the business and it fits perfectly with our strategic plan," Mangum says. "The quality that came out of the two ranges this year was outstanding and the individuals involved were sincerely committed. By having a strong range grower who can work well with a number of growers, we expect the quality will continue to be outstanding."