What’s Up with Terrain at Styers

Slow-going for Urban Outfitters’ Garden Center Brand I recently had the opportunity to visit Terrain at Styers, the up-scale garden center plus operated by mall retailer Urban Outfitter, Inc.  It wasn’t a planned visit, but when I drove by the site, I had to stop. Terrain at Styers is a very engaging place.  It offers a nice range of nursery products, outdoor furniture and  decorative accessories in addition to offering landscape design and installation services.   It has a delightful café and bar (with a dirt floor!). They also have a “farm stand” featuring local veggies, fruit and baked goods. Their own … Read more

SavATree Acquires H.R. Spooner Ornamental Care; Furthers Strategic Expansion on Cape Cod

Mashpee, MA August 5, 2009- SavATree, the Northeast/ Mid-Atlantic leader in tree, shrub and lawn care, today announced a merger with East Falmouth, MA based local provider of plant health care services H.R. Spooner Ornamental Care. H.R. Spooner Ornamental Care has been providing residents with quality and dependable plant health care for over a decade. As Spooner considered merger options, they wanted to entrust the business to a company that was closely aligned in values and high quality standards. Arboricultural excellence, value added programs, and customer focus are some of the shared values, and are ultimately why Spooner chose SavATree. … Read more

Griffin Announces Signing of Florida Farm Lease

NEW YORK, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Griffin Land & Nurseries, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRIF) (“Griffin”) announced that its landscape nursery business, Imperial Nurseries, Inc. (“Imperial”), has entered into an agreement for the lease of, and grant of an option to purchase, Imperial’s Quincy, Florida production nursery to Tri-B Nursery, Inc. (“Tri-B Nursery”), a member of the Berry family of nurseries. A preliminary agreement for this transaction was announced several weeks ago. The agreement with Tri-B Nursery provides for a six-year lease of the Florida facility and grants Tri-B Nursery an option to purchase the facility at any time during the lease … Read more

Why Acquisitions Go Wrong

It has been estimated that 60% of all acquisitions fail to produce a return on investment..  Other estimates go as high as 80%.  So it is surely worth considering just why acquisitions go wrong.  This article explores some of the reasons acquisitions go wrong. Acquiring the Wrong Target at the Wrong Time in the Wrong Deal Markets often put a significant premium on “growth” companies.  This can put either real or imagined pressure on management to grow – either through organic growth or by acquisitions.  Especially in periods when there is competition for acquisitions, this can easily lead management to … Read more

ScottsMiracle-Gro Announces Record Third Quarter Sales and Profit as Consumers Remain Highly Engaged in Lawn & Garden

– Company-wide sales increase 9%; up 16% in Global Consumer segment – Consumer purchases in the U.S. increase 19% in third quarter – Company-wide adjusted gross margin rate improves 210 basis points – Company re-affirms full year adjusted EPS guidance of $2.35 to $2.45 MARYSVILLE, Ohio, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG), the world’s leading marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products, announced strong third quarter results driven by a high level of consumer engagement in nearly all aspects of the lawn and garden category. Company-wide sales for the quarter ended June 27 were $1.28 … Read more