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nafex - Re: [nafex] apple tree nurseries. Part II

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  • From: John Bunker <jbunker@palermo.org>
  • To: nafex@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: Re: [nafex] apple tree nurseries. Part II
  • Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 13:55:46 -0500

At Fedco, we offer between 30-50 apple varieties per year. We also sell a
range of other fruit trees, shrubs and ornamentals. To combat the problem
of left over unwanted apple trees, I've done three things.

First, I vary the selection each year. That way, we can rotate through a
larger number of varieties without having to graft too many each year.
After doing this for 20 years or so, I find that I can pretty well guess how
many we'll sell of a variety in any given year.

The second thing we do has to do with the question about odd varieties. I
spend a lot of time researching and observing any variety we sell, and I
attempt to write a detailed, intellegent, informative and balanced
description of every variety. I believe that it's essential to speak to
the intellegence in every customer, for a number of reasons. Customers
always appreciate this.

Thirdly, we have a four day public sale at the end of each shipping season.
Fedco also sells garden seeds, seed potatoes, seedlings and soil
amendments. Everything is on sale. We advertise to the general public.
It's also a time when mail order customers can pick up their orders and buy
extras if they choose. We also sell a lot of nursery stock, potted and bare
root that is not in the catalog. A number of friends who have small
nurseries bring plants to sell. It's like a big fair. A number of
knowedgeable grower friends are on hand to educate customers. It's a wild
and enjoyable event. And, it's a great opportunity to sell those trees that
didn't sell by mail order.

Using these three techniques, most seasons we throw out no trees at all.

John Bunker
Fedco
Box 520 Waterville Me 04903

jhecksel@voyager.net wrote:

> Hi all:
>
> Regarding the nurseryman's problem of lumpy demand: I think it behooves
> us (customers) to list second and third choices if we want to keep
> specialty, high service nurseries in business.
>
> I often find myself making tough choices. My wants consistently exceed
> my budget. So I flip a coin and order Nova Spy apple trees instead of
> Enterprise, for example. It is to our mutual advantage to have the
> nursery owner know that. He/she might run out of Nova Spy. Knowing my
> second choice allows him/her to still make a sale and I can still get
> trees I want.
>
> Do any of the nurserymen out there care to comment: Just how lumpy is
> demand for specialty cultivars like Florina or Roxbury Russet? How much
> does demand vary over a five year window?
> --
>
> -Joe Hecksel
> Eaton Rapids, Michigan
>
> Personal webpage open to the public at
> http://my.voyager.net/jhecksel
> Criticism welcomed.
>
>
>
>
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