When it comes to planning and maintaining inventory, Stuart Perry and Kelly Jansen have it all worked out. The Perry Wellness Center founder and CEO and the manager of Rudy’s Happy Patch Market, respectively, described how they think through the process during a recent chat. The key is balancing known customer favorites with the introduction of less familiar plant varieties.

“Sure, we know that Knockout roses, all colors of geraniums, and different sizes of ferns will be repeat good sellers,” explained Stuart. “We look at our suppliers for newer variety to bring it to Americus and our supportive customers.”

“When I visit our usual suppliers, I am met with different plant varieties,” picked up Kelly. “I have permission from Stuart to buy some of these new plants to offer customers in Americus. We also load and sell new plants for our Mobile Market. We need to take care of these customers, too.”

Kelly noted one emerging trend—customers seeking out more trees for planting: “First to go in the past two market opening weeks are larger oaks, fruit, pines, and cedar trees. I guess the pandemic has changed the buying minds of our customers. We have bought all the available, larger trees from our suppliers. With the growing demand for trees, the wholesale prices have increased. We have tried to monitor our market prices to keep them more reasonable.”

In an earlier photo, above, a display of trees has now been filled with Knockout roses, blueberry plants, and other more common plant varieties.