Keynote Address:  Do You Really Know Your Customer? Consumer Trends in the Market Place

Award-winning garden designer and lifestyle expert P. Allen Smith, host of the public television program “P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home” and the syndicated “P. Allen Smith Gardens,” will present the keynote address, “Do You Really Know Your Customer? Consumer Trends in the Market Place,” at the International Floricultural Expo keynote breakfast on June 24.

With 15 years of experience in retail as a garden center owner, as well as 17 years as president of his media company, Hortus, Ltd., Smith brings a unique yet relatable perspective to the evolving nature of retail customers. Smith will cover living in today’s “new economy,” and how consumers are doing more for themselves—including learning new skills such as meal planning, cooking and gardening, and taking on DIY projects that previously would have been hired out—and they’re doing it with sustainability in mind. Many homeowners are not only downsizing, they’re also staying put and investing in their outdoor spaces for both practical and recreational purposes. 

This and other consumer trends offer brands a unique opportunity to engage their customers not only with well-priced, easy to use and highly valued products, but also on a more personal level in an ongoing conversation that will gain trust and form lasting relationships with customers. It is up to us as an industry to inspire today’s consumers, as well as the next generation.

P. Allen Smith

P. Allen Smith is an award-winning garden and lifestyle designer and host of the public television program,  P. Allen Smith's Garden Home and the syndicated 30-minute show P. Allen Smith Gardens. He has emerged as America's most recognized and respected garden design expert, providing ideas and inspiration through multiple media venues.

As a fourth generation nurseryman who owned and operated his own garden center, Smith gained years of practical experience guiding the gardening public before he launched a career in television. After studying garden history and design at the University of Manchester in England through an International Rotary Scholarship and becoming a Certified Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, he returned to this country with the mission of inspiring Americans to embrace the joy of creating beautiful gardens.

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Merchandising Aware of Excellence

Held in conjunction with the Keynote Breakfast, the Merchandising Award of Excellence honors retailers for displays that best demonstrate creative use of props, color harmony, cross merchandising, and signage.  In addition, Honor Awards will be awarded for display entries that demonstrate the same.