New Vision Forum to focus on 'What's Not New', create strategies to carry retail business forward

The “News of New” can have a numbing effect as we repeatedly hear drip and drivel of it all. Things are not yet as different as they are going to become, and we intend to be there. Will you?

Nearly three years ago we created New Vision Forum to help a limited number of forward-thinking garden centre owners imagine what would become of retail and where they would be now. Look at what has happened. Think about what it means. Cars now “self-park.” Amazon ships to some of their customer’s products they THINK they will order, before those customers even think about it. What can’t your smart phone – that Internet cloud in the palm of your hand – buy with just a few touches of a finger? Online plant sales are skyrocketing at wholesale and retail; you probably don’t even know it yet.

The graveyard of defunct businesses continues to expand. In it are thousands more chain store locations, and thousands more independent, locally-owned small businesses, along with dozens and dozens of garden centres. The strong survived. The smart thrived. This will be true again in the future.


John Stanley and Sid Raisch

Everybody stopped talking about life after the recession because life during the recession was really the priority. Depending on your view, we are either still in or just out of the Great Recession. We’ve survived, and we must continue on. We are doing things differently than we were just a few years ago. Does anybody really think we won’t be doing things even more differently in a few years?

We have completely updated New Vision Forum. This is a place where you can work to develop your business with peers from across the country. It is not a series of lectures, one after the other. We will set the scene with our views and perspectives and then apply the power of people – as the group will develop those ideas to create strategies to carry your business forward. This is a unique opportunity to grow your business further ahead of the rest.

Imagine working alongside 30 other (non-competing) garden centre retailers envisioning and developing your future. These will not necessarily be the biggest companies, nor the most famous. Rather, they will be selected for their potential to play a meaningful role participating in the dialogue. Most importantly, they will be the ones likely to act on their understanding of what they must do to be vibrant and successful beyond the next five years.

Should you be part of this unique forum – one of those who will make a difference?
The 30 delegates will be amidst the best thinkers in garden retail today and tomorrow. This will include some clients of John’s and Sid’s, plus those who we believe are the top retail thinkers among garden centres. New Vision Forum is organized and hosted by AmericanHort, and will be held August 20-21 at the Portland Convention Centre in Portland, Oregon just prior to the Farwest Show, and on August 28-29 in the Baltimore, MD area. You are invited to participate in one or both.

Join us on this journey of change to grow your business ideas and sales
There will be no trade press in the room. Everything is confidential. It will be just the two of us, very limited staff, and 30 very smart retailers. We hope you will be there with us, along with the one or two persons closest to you along to ensure you and they are on the same page about your future together.

About Sid Raisch and John Stanley
Sid Raisch, is the founder and President of Horticultural Advantage, a consulting firm for independent garden centres and their suppliers.
As a retail consultant, John Stanley has been working with local government entities, town centre developers, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, shopping centres, farmers markets and libraries to grow sustainability, profitability and market share for over 30 years in over 20 countries.

For more information, visit www.americanhort.org or contact:
Horticultural Advantage
Sid Raisch
T: +1 937-302-0423
sidraisch@hotmail.com