My Quest to EVERY Calloway's in Dallas/Fort Worth

This past week, I rode all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area with the General Manager of Calloway's to ALL of the 17 stores. It was eye-opening to see how each store catered to communities in which they are located. I also had the opportunity to do the safety inspection for 13 of the stores under the supervision of the GM, as well as help the store figure out what they need to do to prepare for inventory that starts on Monday.

MONDAY
I visited the newest store in Little Elm. This location was opened a little less than a year ago, and Calloway's see great potential for it. The GM likes to visit this location first each week to ensure that they are ready for the next coming week.  Little Elm is growing fast, with lots of housing developments going in around the store location. This city is just getting established and this store will have been there since the which I believe will definitely boost customer loyalty. From Little Elm, we went to the Corporate Office in Fort Worth to take care the paper work for the upcoming week. The people at the corporate office and many of the store managers threw a surprise party for my GM to celebrate 25 years working with the company. He absolutely loves what he does with the company and loves the company. My adventures around Dallas/Fort Worth, showed me that a lot of people that work with Calloway's love working there. Every manager I talked to, was excited that I was interested in this part of the industry. When the party was over, the GM and I got started on the paper work. I learned how corporate sets the labor budget and the sales objectives for each store. The GM explained how stores can get a little extra money for the labor budget, and informed me that until fall the labor budget for stores slowly declines starting at the beginning of summer. We looked at sales for each store, and he showed what data to really look at to get the best picture of how a store was doing that day, that month, or this year. We went over approving Purchase Orders and Personal Change Requests (We got a lot of those in due to the termination of seasonal workers or changing temporary employees to full or part time employees).

TUESDAY
We saw 4 stores on Tuesday. We started at the Duncanville location. It was an excellent example of how the surrounding stores can help or hurt a business. This started off as a great location and was very successful, but when the big retailers left, business took a big hit. A new Winco Foods is going in nearby which may breathe new life into the area. Duncanville still does okay with what it has and the staff, while small, is dedicated to customer service. The next store, was South Arlington. My GM started there 25 years as a delivery/carryout worker. The area around this location has really taken off, so this location does quite well. It has a larger staff than Duncanville, so it was an interesting contrast. A larger staff can make a huge difference because if you have more employees, you can assist more customers. The next stop was Stonegate. The layout is a bit different from the other Calloway's in that it strays away from the classic building for allied with 4-5 greenhouses beside it and a nursery yard in the back for a pergola, a glass house for interiors and allied, the nursery yard in the middle, and a gift shop like building in the back. This store gears some of their lawn ornaments to TCU fans as it is located close to that campus. The last stop that day was North Arlington. You can see AT&T Stadium from the nursery. This store has a reputation for being literally one of the hottest of the Calloway's locations. The greenhouses now have 2 layers of shade cloth. The top layer is white and the bottom is black. According to the employees, the addition of the white shade cloth has helped tremendously.

WEDNESDAY
We stopped by 5 stores on Wednesday. The first was Plano. Plano was the 5th store built. It is a pretty good location. Because it is one of the oldest stores, it needs repairs a bit more frequently than the others, but it still looks very nice. The biggest problem it has is that more than once people have accidentally driven through the wall of the greenhouse from the parking lot. The next stop was the Preston Rd Location. This location is huge! It is one of the largest of the stores. It has a large staff and is one of the most successful of the stores. The Richarson location came next and was one of my favorites, mostly because it was the original. It has the standard Calloway's design with the exception of one wall in the middle of the building. The other stores don't need it because it wasn't load bearing. I really enjoyed my time at the Richardson store. The next one was Mesquite. This was the 3rd store built. Like Plano, it needs repairs a bit more often than the newer ones, but it is still a beautiful store. the staff is excellent. The last one was McKinney. This store is unique because it is made entirely of glass. As you may imagine, this is a hot store as well. During the summer, shade cloth hangs from the roof and fans are going all through store hours. When it gets real bad, they turn on fans with misters attached. This store is little, compared to the amount of material and customers they serve, so in the spring, when they have all of the busy season plants in, the place is packed. It is a gorgeous store though.

THURSDAY
Little Elm was the first of our 4 stops on Thursday. We came back to make sure they we ready for inventory  and do the safety inspection. They made great strides in preparation for inventory while we were gone and it was amazing to see the changes in such a short time. Denton was our next stop. It is a very small store, but it has plans in the works to expand it. It is set up quite a bit different than the other stores. It still has a building for allied, greenhouses for bedding plants, and a nursery yard along the back. There are plants on every available space. Flower Mound was the next store. This store is also different from the rest. It has a more open design. The nursery yard is in the middle, the bedding plants and interiors are under 2 pergolas, and a building for allied. The front of building has a fountain. and the floor outside the garden is made of permeable pave stone. The stone is pretty but poses some maintenance issues. The last stop was Lewisville. This store is undergoing some repairs do to a storm that blew through. The roof needs to be fix up (nothing serious), the shade cloth had a couple holes, and the awnings needed to be replaced and repaired. When this store is finished with the minor cosmetic repairs, it will be gorgeous.

FRIDAY
My first stop was Southlake. This store was set up very similar to Flower Mound. I met one of my fellow interns here and he will be joining me at corporate soon. It is one of the biggest stores and does very well. Then we went to Hurst. This store is very large. It also houses the warehouse for the company. All of the flocking machines and other seasonal items are stored here. The final store I visited was Greenville. The amount of money made by this store does not make sense for the size and location of this store. It does exceptionally well. The staff is very knowledgeable. It has the standard layout of most Calloway's stores. From there, we returned to the Richardson store, to make a delivery and go over the Profit and Loss statement. The P&L is essentially the company's checkbook. It shows how much we spent on what when. It starts with everything summarized and gradually breaks it down into individual transactions. It was an interesting thing to learn.

I learned so much in my week with the GM. By the time Friday ended, I had not realized how many hours I had actually put in. It was a fun week but I am looking forward to my next weeks at corporate. I'm  even going to get to help with the actual inventory this week that I have been working on with my North Plano store and the GM. This week I have started in the Merchandising Department. This week should be a lot of fun.

My LAST Week at North Plano

Today I completed the first half of my internship. It was my last day working in the stores. I will spend the next 5 weeks exploring the corporate world of Calloway's. In these past 5 weeks I have learned quite a bit, but the most important thing I have learned is that there are no small jobs. When you enter the North Plano Calloway's in the morning, you will see brightly colored plants everywhere, you will see plants lined up neatly in rows, all the shelves are full, the floor is clean and almost dry; there is little indication that we just watered or that there was a big sale the day before. Everyday the employees work to make everything look amazing and beautiful, all while helping every customer. Plants are constantly being moved around the store. Blooming plants are moved up towards the front of the store, plants in dwindling supply are consolidated to make room for new plants, people pick up plants and put them back down after changing their mind. Every morning employees scheduled to water show up 3 hours before opening and water everything. Every task these employees perform helps make the customers' experience pleasant. Each one will drop what they are working on to help a customer find what they are looking for. The managers are some of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met. They have so much experience that after only a few questions and looking at a sample or a picture, can tell exactly what is wrong and how to fix it.

The 2 pictures above have been my home away from home for the past 5 weeks. The people I had the privilege of working with have been absolutely amazing. Each week, my internship supervisor would drop by and ask me if I was having fun and learning a lot. Each time I replied without hesitation, "Yes, Sir!" The boys working back in the nursery taught me so much about the trees and shrubs we carried and could always make me laugh while we worked through the day. The girls up front at the registers could answer almost every question I had about how to run a register, what product will take care of what pest, or who to transfer a call. The people working in the bedding department, never ceased to amaze me with their knowledge of almost every plant that sat on our benches. The management team at this Calloway's is phenomenal. They are among the first to arrive each morning and the last to leave each night. They somehow find time to do all the paperwork required for the store to run day-to-day and take care of the customers and employees. Everyday at a retail nursery presents a new challenge. Sometimes a shipment will come in unexpectedly, other times we lose all water pressure as we try to get everything watered in the heat of the afternoon. They handle each situation like pros. From my experiences at this location and with this staff, I completely understand why this location is so successful.

To each of the staff members I worked with this summer: Thank you for everything. I have learned so much, and everyday when I drove home, I had a smile on my face because of y'all. I have every intention of coming back to see y'all when I get the chance. I will miss all of y'all and know that y'all are the best. 

Thanks and Gig'Em!!!

Here are some pretty flowers, for y'all to enjoy!

The Most Common Questions People Ask Me

I have completed the first 3 weeks of my internship and am starting my fourth. This week I watered, unpacked new plants, received and checked in deliveries, helped customers find the perfect plants for their landscapes. I also learned how to make a lunch schedules so that there is someone in each department at all times.
Customer service is a top priority at Calloway's. Customers will come in looking for plants for areas with certain conditions or they will bring in samples or pictures of their ailing plants. I think it would be interesting to list some of our most common questions.

Color for Shade
One of the most common problems our customers run into is finding color for shade (shade= less than 3hrs of direct sun, partial= 3-4 hrs, Full= 6 hrs). The most common flowers for shade are impatiens, the new guinea impatiens, green leaf begonias, crossandra, shrimp plants, and hostas. Impatiens come in a wide variety of colors from white to purple (not blue). There are 2 types of bedding begonias: the bronze leaf  and green leaf. The bronze tolerates sun and the green leaf will only take shade. Crossandra has light orange flowers and dark green foliage. Shrimp plants have unusual yellow flowers (relatives come in different colors) that almost resemble a shrimp tail. Hostas have variegated foliage and will flower. Some shade plants are best used for their showy foliage rather than flowers. These include coleus and caladiums. Coleus comes in an almost unlimited variety of colors, patterns, and shapes. Caladiums can be grown from bulbs or transplanted. They come mostly patterns of green and pink or white. The strap leaf caladiums can tolerate more sun than the regular. The some good perennials for shade include ferns, turk's cap, and coral bells.

Annuals vs. Perennials
Annuals will die after one season. They are great for temporarily filling spaces or temporary color. Most of them provide instant color. Perennials will survive through more than one season. They are more permanent additions to a landscape. Some will stay leafy and green all year (evergreen), others will lose the leaves and basically be sticks in the winter, but will leaf out in spring (deciduous), and even others will die down to the soil until the weather warms back up. Annuals must be replaced at each season change; perennials do not. Annuals are usually cheaper than perennials. One is not really better than the other. It depends on your personal preference.

Rose Diseases
Roses are amazing. They add so much to a landscape. I believe there is probably a type of rose for every landscape purpose. The most common rose diseases are anthracnose and black spot. Both cause black discoloration on the leaves and are a fungus. You can treat them with a standard fungicide. The infected leaves won't be fixed, so cut those leaves off, but new leaves should not be infected. If your rose is producing blooms, but they are rotting before they can open, you may have thrips (they are bad this year). If you take one of the affected blooms and pull it apart, down towards the center of the flower, there should be tiny oblong insects crawling around. These can be treated with an insecticide. Many people have come in with pictures and samples of there roses, complaining of gnarled new growth and bad blooms. This is more than likely being caused by a virus going around called Rose Rosette or Rose Rosetta. It can be transmitted a couple ways. Spider mites and soil are the most common. If you prune on any infected roses, you must disinfect your pruners with bleach or alcohol. If you have any infected roses, remove them immediately and keep them away from uninfected roses. Once you remove infected roses, DO NOT plant more roses in that area for at least 3 years. The virus can persist in the soil. There is no cure and no sure fire prevention. If you get spider mites, use a mitcide to keep the population under control. Keep an eye on your neighborhood's roses. If it gets into your neighborhood, it can spread from house to house pretty easily. This virus only affects roses.

Grass
St. Augustine grass is the only grass that can grow in shade. It still will not grow in dense shade, but it can handle some shade. You can lay down sod or put in plugs. If you have brown patches in your lawn you may have grubs or a disease called brown patch that is caused by a fungus. If the brown patches seem to be forming in rings rather than patches, treat for fungus. If your St. Augustine is still brown (especially in the shade), it may have been killed in this brutal winter we just had.

Killing Weeds
To kill weeds you need herbicide. Some herbicides will only kill broad leaf plants. Do not spray this in a flower bed. It will kill your garden. Some will kill grassy weeds. Do not spray this on your lawn unless the label lists your lawn grass as a tolerant species. With any pesticide (herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, mitcide), ALWAYS READ THE LABEL BEFORE YOU APPLY IT. This way you apply it correctly or to anything you don't want killed. Also, this is my own personal belief, but if there is a plant growing anywhere you don't want it to, you can call it a weed and the reverse is true as well. It is always helpful to know what the weed is actually called before you buy a treatment. You can bring in a sample to Calloway's and we will help you take care of it. There are also great resources online.

Over vs. Under Watering
Oddly enough, the symptoms of over and under watering plants are very similar. If your plant is wilted, touch the soil. If it feels wet, let it dry out. If it feels dry, water it. If newly dead parts of the plant feel crispy, it is under watering. If it is malleable, it is over watering. If the dead parts feel crispy, the soil has always been moist when you water, you may have a bacteria problem or a pest problem. In that situation, it is probably best to bring a sample to an expert.

Nutrient Deficiencies and Fertilizer
All fertilizers are required to list a fertilizer analysis. It is a sequence of 3 numbers separated by dashes. Each number refers to the relative concentration of a nutrient in the fertilizer. The first refers to nitrogen, the second to phosphorus, and the third to potassium. N-P-K.
The most common all purpose analysis is a 20-20-20.
Nitrogen encourages green growth. Plants with a deficiency begin yellowing in the older or lower leaves. Apply a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen (Blood Meal).
Phosphorous encourages root growth and will often speed up maturity (the plant may flower sooner). Plants with this deficiency will have a reddish discoloration on lower leaves and crispy leaf tips. Apply a fertilizer that is high in phosphorous (Bone Meal).
Potassium is essential to most of a plant's chemical reactions. Plants with this deficiency have interveinial chlorosis (yellowing between green veins) on the older or lower leaves, scorching will begin on the edges of the leaf and work inwards. Apply a fertilizer that is high in potassium.
Iron deficiency looks very similar to potassium deficiency, but it will be found on the upper or newer leaves. To treat this apply a fertilizer that is high in iron.
There are more nutrient deficiency than this, but these ones are the most common.

That about sums up the big trends in questions, I get almost every day. Each day I learn more and more because of the questions people ask. If I don't know an answer, I find someone who does and listen to their answer. There is never a dull day when working at a nursery.