THE NURSERY SUPPORT GROUP
TOGETHER WE ARE
STRONGER
The Nursery Support Group (NSG) private groups on Facebook provide a place for retailers, suppliers, and even press in the nursery industry, to come together in order to support one another, exchange ideas, offer advice, share new products, highs, lows and everything in between. PPS chats to the admins and some of the members to find out more about how the groups bring the community together.
C
omprising of two separate groups, NSG on Facebook offers a unique platform in the nursery industry. The NSG Retail group is for bricks and mortar stores, while the NSG Trade group encompasses all retailers, suppliers and press in an industry-wide community.
The groups are active daily and have a combined membership of 950 across all areas of the business. Each group carries out a slightly different function, as Ian Davidson, owner of Babylicious and admin of both groups explains: “NSG Retail is a unique group set up by retailers, which has gone from strength to strength and
Above: Shannon from Bambinos and Beyond found the group a great way to get to know the industry when she first took over the store.
where stores know they are not alone. “A place where we can talk privately about issues within the industry from online retailers, supply issues, exchange stock, pricing issues – you name it, we can discuss it, and then reach out to whoever we need to in order to protect our stores and our suppliers.” Many of the retailers involved in the group have been so for many years. Mike Cummings, md of Simply Baby, comments: “I am proud to have been a member of the NSG since Below: The two Facebook groups combined have a membership of almost a thousand retailers, suppliers and press.
TROUBLED WATERS The past few years for retail have proved a time when support networks such as NSG were a lifeline for many. Yas tells PPS: “Covid has been the biggest test of our lifetime, such events make or break people and businesses. I am glad to say we didn’t lose any retailers from our group due to Covid related issues. We did all band together and on a daily basis it was a huge lifeline for us.”
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