If you were to look up “outdoor retail” in the dictionary, it’s likely that there would be a picture of Rockford, Illinois-based Village Green Home & Garden right there, next to the words.
In 2018, the store was the first recipient of the Retail Genius Award, created by the Retail Council of the International Casual Furnishings Association in honor of the late Mary Fruehauf, whose Colorado casual furnishings store, Fruehauf’s in Boulder, was known for its imaginative visual merchandising and entertaining promotional events
And then in 2022, Village Green took the honor again.
The award recognized the store’s practice of sending its team far and wide around the country for inspiration, to study fashion, textiles, architecture and more. The result is a unique selling environment infused with inventive displays, original product combinations and energizing color, all on display in a unique atrium showroom where natural light floods the space from ceilings 20 feet above the floor.
In the beginning
On the sales front, things started out slow this season.
“We are doing additional marketing in key areas that we have not before with new incentives to try and drive business,” Salisbury says.
Along those lines, the store has launched a new program called VG VIPs. “Long story short, we create special incentives for VIP, first dibs on sales and invitations to parties. In order to be a VIP they need to provide their email which allows us to grow our database. It has been a huge success.”
The store was founded in 1964 by the late Larry Smith. It’s now in two locations: Riverside, which is the flagship store with an outdoor furniture showroom, interior furniture department and full-scale garden center. Village Green also has a location on Main Street, which is a traditional greenhouse and small gift shop. Village Green is owned by Larry Smith’s two daughters, Carolyn and Cindy Smith, with Jessica Salisbury as CEO and creative director and Dean Senglaub as the business manager.
This year, the biggest challenges for retailers will be selling the inventory — and Salisbury will tell you that merchandising is always the icing on the cake for setting yourself apart from competitors.
For Village Green, the biggest challenge lately was the weather.
“Well, we recently had a tornado come through the night before our Patio Expo and rip apart greenhouses that are attached to our patio showroom,” says Salisbury. “Our brand-new outdoor cooking center that was set to launch that day was roped off because it had no roof over the top of it and the rain created a mess.
“We lost trees, our fence, doors, pipes burst, etc. Dean and I created a plan of attack the night of the tornado and then the next morning met with our team. We were able to get nearly everything cleaned up that day along with having our Patio Expo. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing team that we can count on to pivot, when necessary, especially during difficult times like a pandemic or a tornado.”
To sell the goods, decisions must first be made on what to carry, a decision that Village Green’s team makes based on product assortment, price and delivery.
“We are targeting different areas to generate new customers into our stores,” says Salisbury. “We also remodeled and rebranded our interior showroom and expanded in outdoor cooking.”
In terms of marketing, the store is using digital and television The store sets itself apart from competitors by concentrating on customer service, selection, style and merchandising by wowing customers with both the displays and the employees as well.
And Village Green has some plans for this coming year.
“We are always looking for ways to expand or events to host,” she says. “I don’t want to give away too much!”
One thing that Village Green doesn’t do is compete with online giants.
“You can’t compete with Wayfair and Amazon, they are monsters!” says Salisbury. “I try to have the best product, advertise smart, stay active in our community, and provide the best customer service. It would be nice if manufacturers would protect the brick-and-mortar stores more. We do have an online store; however, we do not sell much patio on that site. Shipping seems to be an issue or too expensive.”
Any advice for struggling casual retailers?
“Make sure to set yourself apart from the rest by merchandising, product offerings and service,” says Salisbury. “And do not overbuy!”
