2013 CIOPORA Chronicle

Field production at Bell Nursery.
tropicals. We sell exclusively to The
Home Depot in all or part of seven
states including Virginia, Maryland
and Delaware as well as the District
of Columbia, Philadelphia, and the
Southern Ohio Valley. We pride
ourselves on full, locally grown
plants packed with just-cracked
color at retail. We have more than
220 production acres, including
75 acres of greenhouse space and
35 Network Growers. This network
model allowed us to successfully
expand our production capabilities,
with limited capital risk, and
offered families on Maryland’s
eastern shore an additional revenue
source for their farm property.
From the greenhouse
to The Home Depot
Once ready for retail, Bell plants
generally travel fewer than 100
miles (often as few as just 15!) to
one of our four regional distribution
centers in Maryland,
Delaware, Virginia and Ohio. From
the distribution center, plants are
delivered to one of the nearly 200
Home Depot stores Bell services in
three divisions – the mid-Atlantic,
south-Atlantic and southern Ohio
Valley. Each distribution center is
served by a centralized or network
of field and greenhouse operations
to provide fresh, locally grown
quality plants. This system ensures
most of our plants travel fewer than
200 miles, all within 24 hours,
from the greenhouse to The Home
Depot.
Once our plants arrive at The
Home Depot it is displayed and
cared for by a team of more than
300 full time and 1000 seasonal
merchandising employees. This
team is in The Home Depot stores
we serve 7 days a week, most days
a year, caring for the product, and
helping customers make informed
plant selections, giving them the
best chance for success when they
get their purchases home.
Direct online
communication
Over the past year, we have invested
in our traditional public relations,
Web presence and social media.
This year, we are investing even
At Bell, we use photography (printed pots)
to share the joy of our plants at every stage.
Once ready for shipping, Bell product generally travels fewer than 100 miles.
more as we find positive returns
on both our Web site and Facebook
efforts. We have additional
opportunities to expand our
library of video offerings and to
become a destination location for
plant pictures on Pinterest.
The direct online communication
we receive from our employees,
Home Depot partners and
consumers allows us to better
serve or customer community by
providing them with the same
kind of service online that we ask
our merchandising team to provide
in the stores. Helping customers
pick the right plant and
care for it the right way so they
are successful keeps them coming
back to Bell-served Home
Depots. We want to cultivate
the next generation of gardeners,
and online media gives us an opportunity
our industry has never
had before. It’s knocking, open
the door! |||
About the author
Kindal Marin currently oversees marketing efforts on behalf of Bell
Nursery. She brings more than 15 years marketing experience to projects
including public relations, social media and web site development.
Kindal previously served as district manager for Bell Nursery where
she oversaw visual merchandising at eight Home Depot stores in
Northern Virginia. She began with the company in 2007 as a parttime
merchandiser. Prior to joining Bell, Kindal was a public relations
consultant for companies including Chipotle Mexican Grill, San Diego
Natural History Museum, Deepak Chopra and the Gemological Institute
of America. She began her career in public relations with The Gable
Group, and previously wrote news stories for the San Diego Community
Newspaper Group. A graduate of California State University, San Marcos,
with a degree in history, Kindal currently resides in Annapolis, Md. Kindal
Marin is Director of Marketing, Bell Nursery, www.bellnursery.com
CIOPORA Chronicle April 2013 | www.FloraCultureInternational.com 17