Retail
At present this is not really a retail operation. We work by appointment. We don't have signs on the approach highways. Every customer is treated as a potential bulk sale, and gets individual attention from Sherwood or Laura. (Our average sale is between 500 and 600 dollars) Some steps toward a better retail experience:
- Better signage -- not only product info, but product differentiation info. Customers need to know what the difference between an Odessey and a Goodland apple are to make a choice. I prefer the concept of large topic signs, rather than the cute cards that say little. Cross reference signage in the Demo Gardens that say where to find young versions of the same tree, and signs on the young stuff tell people where an older version can be seen. This requires directions signage for various locations in the yard, and 'where is it' maps. If we can get reliable wifi at the pot yard, then adding QR codes to the signs gives people direct access to our web site.
- Price tags. At minimum the 1" plastic strips printed with basic information about the tree. Label printers for this cost about 3 grand from French's. Part of the tag is a link to our page on that tree on the website.
- A separate sales area from growing area. Smaller numbers of everything in one spot to reduce the 8 acres walking to something a bit more manageable. This also allows the runts, deformed, and not ready trees to lurk out of sight.
- Restrooms. Required for several programs. See Infra-structure above.
Wifi/Internet at the tree yard. Right now, to pay with plastic, customers have to come to the house. Cell reception in the tree yard isn't sufficient to reliably run Square Up, our current method for taking plastic. This is doable with a pair of high gain internet access points, one at each end of the power line to the tree yard. It may be doable with a wired link too, but this will require a repeater midway. Wifi at the tree yard has the added advantage that signage with printed QRcodes can link to further information on our website.
Costs associated with doing Retail:
Sign making: At minimum a pigment based (not dye based) ink jet printer, a supply of weatherproof labels, and a bulk purchase of coreplast or other backing board. (Alternative: Print on heavy paper stock and laminate.) Signs will cost about $2/sheet (8.5 x 11) but will depend greatly on ink coverage, and amount of colour used. You will also need to come up with sign stands. Commercially these run 7-15 bucks each. May be able to make something during the off season. At this point I'd go with Canon, Epson, or HP as printers. Pigment based inks are much more resistant to fading. Printers tend to be very cheap and the ink expensive. Do a spreadsheet trial cost on a year's worth of signs. In Edmonton, Printer World is the local HP distributor of their commercial units.
- Label Making: You want to print on vinyl or Tyvek (Tyvek has a much lower environmental footprint, but doesn't look as good. You want to use a thermal transfer process, so that your labels are still readable 2-3 years from now. Thermal transfer is cheaper than inkjet, but the printers are more expensive. About 3-4 grand from French's
- Restrooms: Big ticket item. At minimum, 2 gender neutral stalls, hand washing facility, one with a baby changing table. With this is septic field, water, both cold and hot, power for lights. The best way may be something highly sustainable -- composting toilets. This hugely reduces water usage, eliminates the need for a septic field. With a solar heated water system, it may be fully usable in winter too for occasional use. (E.g. 1000 liter tank of water in attic, coupled with a black south facing roof and a tiny solar powered circulation pump) The cheapest way is likely a pumpout tank, and some kind of prefabricated unit.
Lodgepole Pine in our front yard.
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