Urban Outfitter’s Terrain in PA

Ever wonder about the much hyped Terrain – “a whole new garden center concept” by the same folks that own Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie? Well, here’s a little info/peek inside if you can’t make it all the way over to Philadelphia yourself!

“The goal of Terrain is to be a “destination” rather than the typical drive-by pit stop visit to most garden centers. People typically stay at Terrain for three to five hours. Products include items sourced from all over the world that you wouldn’t see at other garden centers. If we were to be compared this to another garden center, women would feel this is a more accessible experience than going to a typical garden center or a big box store. There is more attention to presentation. It’s a voyage of discovery with interesting ways of presenting products that will inspire people.”

Love the signage!!

They have lots more than just greenery! From garden containers and accessories to home furniture and holiday decor!!! They even have a café if you need to take a lunch break in between your shopping!

And definitely check out their website where you can purchase a lot of their goodies!

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Even their bags are pretty!

{images via Elements of Style; Terrain; Bumblebee blog; Oh Joy; Oh Joy’s Flickr}

More Cultivate newsletters especially for you!

I’ve uploaded additional Cultivate newsletters (oldies but still goodies) to our website just for you Check them out and as always feel free to send us your thoughts! We love hearing from you!

Garden Room

Check out this super cute and whimsical garden/potting room by Victoria Lyon and Robin Horton of Urban Gardens! I think if we all had a space like that we’d want to garden more!

{images via Elements of Style}

How to make your own digital newsletter!

I recently added the option of viewing our Cultivate newsletter on our website. In this recent copy, I included an article about it. Most of you have probably already read it if you’ve checked out this new feature or if you have received a hard copy of Cultivate in the mail, but just in case, for those of you who may have missed it – here’s the article!

Goodbye Paper I’ll Miss You!

I’m sitting here without access to the internet, because our service provider has been having issues for the past 2 days. Yes, 2 friggin days without email or the internet!!! It definitely has forced me to stop and think about how much technology is a part of our everyday lives. It’s practically a necessary bodily function for me – eat, sleep, breathe, check email. Even my dad’s in on the tech bandwagon. He has the new iPhone4 now! I had to set it up for him, but he has an iPhone!

With all this digital information flying around it makes me wonder about the future of the old ways. You know, like using things like paper. It’s all about paperless electronic bills not mailing checks, sending emails instead of writing letters, oh heck even books and magazines are beginning to go digital. And I’m not talking about a side-kick accompaniment to the in-your-hands glossy version.
I’m talking about full fledged, soley digital publications. It’s the medium of the future! (Maybe, we’ll see!)

With the ailing economy, many publishing giants have closed their smaller divisions of niche magazines. Sadly, I was a fan of a few like Blueprint and Domino – home magazines geared towards young adults and new homeowners. But because of this sad farewell, a new wave of online mags has emerged.

The producers of Domino have created an online magazine called Lonny Magazine (www.lonny.com) which has the same vibe and feel, only in a digital version online and did I mention it’s free?! With a lower overhead by being only digital, advertising space is enough to keep the ‘zine running! And the advertisers aren’t small beans either. They’re the same big companies you’ll see advertising in other national publications.

I especially love how you have instant access to featured products and advertising brands. By simply clicking on the image a new window pops up and you’re instantly redirected to its source. No more dog-earring or ripping out the pages to remind yourself to look into it later. 

 Not only are these publications successfully finding a way to best utilize tight funds in a tight economy, they’re also making the most of the form of communication that young people best identify with. This provides instant access to their mag and all products showcased within and a way to easily promote the publication to others.

How can you go digital? Companies like Issuu (www.issuu.com) make it super easy to make your printed {insert applicable here…catalog, newsletter, brochure…} ready for the world wide web! All you have to do is sign up for a free account or pay a small monthly fee for an advertisement free version and upload your pdf’s for conversion. No techy knowledge required! (And if you don’t have Adobe Acrobat to create pdf’s you can download it for free!). Viewers can peruse your new accomplishment full screen or with the tool bar and thumbnails, they can enter in a search word if they’re looking for something in particular or they can even print it out for a more traditional view. And if they’re loving what they’re seeing all they have to do is hit the share button and let the word of mouth spread!

And of course, since we’re talking about all this digital-ness, you can find this edition of Cultivate on our website for your online viewing pleasure (I’ll get around to getting past versions up too – eventually)!

Dad’s Two Cents on Reaching the Next Consumers

OFA President Danny Takao responds to Associate Editor Kevin Yanik’s November column about why waiting for young people to become our industry’s next group of consumers is the wrong approach.

“Lack of information is a major reason why, up to now, a lot of people don’t garden. People say they have the brown thumb syndrome, and whose fault is that? …We need to rethink how to keep our plants relevant to anyone, regardless of their age. Or, we might go the way of the phone booth.”

Read the full article here.

Happy 1st Birthday Gwen!