A Little Music to Shop By
Have you heard about the Home Depot employee who serenades customers while they shop?
The singing salesman is Sal Vaca and he works at the Home Depot store in Laguna Niguel, California.
A retiree, Vaca began working at Home Depot to get out of his wife’s hair and not hang around the house all day.
Vaca says he’s been singing all his life and he loves to entertain people and bring a smile to their faces.
As customers are shopping in his department, Vaca will answer any questions they may have and provide them with the information they need and then he will reach for his ukelele and break out into a song. He’s also been known to show off a few dance steps too.
Who knows, maybe he can teach some of the merchandisers in the garden center all the words to “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.”
Check out this YouTube video of one of Vaca’s performances for a customer.
Meet, Mix, Mingle
Don’t forget, it you want to meet some of the brightest young minds in horticulture, come to Cultivate’15.
On Monday, July 13, at 11 a.m. there will be a special a Mix ‘n Mingle session with many of the members of the Class of 2015 of GPN’s 40 Under 40.
Open and free to all Cultivate attendees, the informal one-hour session will take place in Terrace Ballroom Foyer 4 & 5 in the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
If you want to learn more about these individuals and why they do what they do, this is your chance to do it!
Wal-Mart to Start Charging Suppliers
As Wal-Mart continues to seek new ways to keep its prices low and pay it employees more, the mass merchandiser has announced plans to charge many of its vendors for stocking their merchandise and warehousing their inventory. The company began notifying its suppliers in June about these new charges. Wal-Mart also amended its payment terms that will impact approximately 10,000 suppliers to its U.S. stores. How this program impacts growers with green goods in the garden center remains to be seen.
Lowe’s Donates $1 Million to Keep America Beautiful
Lowe’s recently donated $1 million to Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization that builds clean, green and beautiful communities. The donation will be used to support 50 local community service projects and Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup community improvement program. The 2015 projects range from restoring neighborhood parks and planting community gardens to leading disaster restoration initiatives and large-scale cleanups.
Meijer ‘Locally Grown’ Program Continues to Grow
Michigan-based retailer Meijer has increased its purchases from Midwest growers and farmers by more than 25 percent in the last two years. Meijer reportedly is spending $100 million buying “locally grown” produce from 125 growers in the six Midwestern states where it has 219 stores. The move is done to help keep prices down by reducing shipping and other transportation costs. The company expects its grower network to expand in the future as it opens 11 new stores in 2015.
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