Quality and Garden Gifts

Where the Merchandise (From page 82) den spinners rotate just like an airplane propeller. “He uses steel ball bearings and they’re all hand balanced. They’ll spin in winds of just two miles per hour and can take gusts of up to 60 miles per hour,” said store Manager Esperanza Janke

Cottage Garden Farm relies on carefully curated displays to showcase its many wares. “We’re always rearranging things to give our customers ideas on how to decorate their yards and how to use the products,” explained Janke. A top-selling item typically sits front and center in the display settings or “vignettes” that staff create. For instance, metal birds are another top seller for the roughly 5,000-square-foot store. Therefore, a metal rooster might dominate a display and be complemented by other farm-centric items such as wooden signage. A metal crane might be surrounded by color-coordinating gazing balls. Likewise, staff will corral purple and blue garden accessories to accent a metal peacock. “However, once the main item sells out – and it should if we’re doing a good job of merchandising – we find a new item to replace it and the best accessories to showcase it. It’s on ongoing task!” ❖