The Ortega\u2019s used to be in the truck farming business, so it was a natural step for them to have a farmers market as part of their garden center. The farmers market portion of their business is open June through October and features the freshest fruits and vegetables in season.<\/p>\n Nick\u2019s has two roasters going full time and they can roast 200 bushels a day. Of course the roasting process takes an hour or more so what\u2019s a customer to do but shop the garden center while they wait!<\/p>\n Like many independent retailers, Nick\u2019s does several special events throughout the year as they feel the longer customers stay in the store, the more likely they are to purchase. They also host a spring and winter open house. In addition to the Chile Festival in the summer, Nick\u2019s presents Pink Days for breast cancer awareness. Autumn brings a traditional Fall Festival, which includes a sanctioned giant pumpkin weigh-off boasting 25 to 30 entries, which weigh in at between 1,000 to 1,200 pounds each! Events are only a part of why Nick\u2019s is successful.<\/p>\n Q: What actions have you taken to stay in business?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:<\/strong>\u00a0Owner Richard Ortega says, \u201cWe\u2019ve been agile, remained relevant, and are open to change.\u00a0Don\u2019t be complacent!\u201d<\/p>\n Q: What has been the biggest challenge you\u2019ve faced over the last year, and how did you handle it?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0<\/strong>Ortega says they have two primary challenges. First, in Colorado they are facing water shortages and drought. To counteract this they are trying to educate\u00a0customers on water wise techniques as well as offering plants that do well in their arid environment.<\/p>\n Secondly, they share a challenge faced by all independent garden centers. They strongly feel that now, more than ever, consumers have many choices of how to spend their money and are looking for real value. Ortega believes that IGCs are perceived as always being more expensive than the big box stores and in fact, quite often products are more expensive. He sees the need to drive home the fact that when they come in Nick\u2019s Garden Center, there is perceived value: the best quality and selection of plants, outstanding customer service and awesome ambience.<\/p>\n Q: What has been your most effective marketing tool?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0<\/strong>Nick\u2019s largest advertising expenditure is direct mail. Their newsletter – The Garden Basket – is mailed out four times a year to more than 11,000 subscribers. They also publish a circular six times a year which reaches about 150,000 homes through ADVO shared mail. Both pieces are skewed toward spring. They also send out regular eblasts to their mailing database utilizing Constant Contact.<\/p>\n Q: What are you doing to reach younger generations?<\/strong><\/p>\n Q: How do you get feedback from employees and\/or customers?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0<\/strong>Nick\u2019s has an open door policy with employees. As owners we are on the floor\u00a0working side-by-side with workers. Management is hands-on in regards to getting direct and immediate feedback from both employees and customers.<\/p>\n Q: How do you reward your best-performing workers? What do you do to keep company morale up?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0<\/strong>Nick\u2019s rewards their employees with year-end bonuses. They strive to create a fun working environment, which in turn reflects to their customers. They show appreciation for hard work on busy days by taking a simple, but meaningful action such as ordering pizza for lunch. They also enjoy surprising the crew with unexpected treats. Last June they took their crew to a concert and occasionally they get tickets from vendors to sporting events which they\u2019ll pass on to employees and their families.<\/p>\n Q: What has been the best business advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/strong><\/p>\n A:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cFind a sense of purpose in whatever you do,\u201d says Ortega.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \t\t\t\t<]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[472,681,15],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Nick's](\"https:\/\/upshoothort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/superior-logo-001.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>A bushel and a peck and instead of a hug around the neck (as the Doris Day song goes), it\u2019s a big fat check! Who would think a bushel of roasted chilies could draw crowds, long lines and be a money-maker? The Ortega family \u2014 Richard, Randy and Bella \u2014 of Nick\u2019s Garden Center<\/a>, that\u2019s who. They\u2019ve infused a little family culture and history into their garden center, and it\u2019s heating up sales during the typical \u201coff season.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gardencentermagazine.com\/FileUploads\/image\/GC0513_pg50.jpg\")
<\/a>Starting around August 1, their favorite pepper, chilies, are ripe. For eight weeks customers visit Nick\u2019s to buy chilies by the bushel and have them roasted so they can take them home to freeze and use them all winter.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gardencentermagazine.com\/FileUploads\/image\/GC0513_pg51.jpg\")
<\/a><\/strong>Of course the season is topped off with an annual Chile Festival, which includes cooking demos, a salsa competition and of course, roasted chilies. In fact, starting mid-April, the Ortega\u2019s bring a little taste of home to the store and a Mariachi band plays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. each and every Saturday.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gardencentermagazine.com\/FileUploads\/image\/GC0513_pg51-2.jpg\")
<\/a>A:\u00a0<\/strong>Nick\u2019s has engaged staffer Bert Gallegos as their social media guru. Bert brings a passion to increase both their website presence and up their game on social media platforms such as Facebook <\/a>and Twitter<\/a>. They have surpassed 5,200 \u2018likes\u2019 on their Facebook page and have more than 1,800 Twitter<\/a> followers.<\/p>\n![\"Garden](\"https:\/\/upshoothort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/gc-logo.gif\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>– Originally published by Garden Center Magazine<\/a>, May 3, 2013.
\u00a0 Written by Maria Zampini<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n