The Art & Science of Buying: A Mastery Series for Independent Garden Retailers
Buying is one of the most important, and least formally taught, responsibilities in an independent garden center.
Whether you’re selecting new plant varieties, seasonal merchandise, pottery, tools, giftware, or everyday inventory, every buying decision impacts cash flow, inventory turns, customer satisfaction, and ultimately your profitability. Yet many buyers step into the role with little more than experience, instinct, and the practices they’ve inherited over time.
In this six-part Mastery Series, fourth-generation retailer Tom Shay shares the proven principles, practical tools, and real-world experiences that have helped independent retailers become more strategic and profitable buyers.
This interactive series explores how to think like a buyer by connecting customer behavior, merchandising, pricing, inventory management, financial performance, and business strategy into one complete buying system.
Throughout the series, participants will engage in open discussion, learn from the experiences of fellow retailers, and gain access to practical calculators and decision-making tools they can immediately apply within their own businesses.
Together, these concepts help reduce costly buying mistakes, improve inventory performance, strengthen margins, increase customer loyalty, and build a healthier business for the long term.
The framework examines the interconnected decisions behind successful buying, including the right customer, right product, right message, right pricing, right quantity, right merchandising, right timing, and the analytics that support smarter inventory investments.
By the End of the Series, You’ll Be Able To:
- Make more confident buying decisions using proven retail principles.
- Better align product selection with customer demand and business goals.
- Improve inventory performance while reducing costly buying mistakes.
- Use practical financial and inventory tools to support purchasing decisions.
Who Should Attend
- Independent garden center owners
- Buyers and merchandise managers
- Department managers with buying responsibilities
- Next-generation leaders preparing to take on purchasing decisions
- Anyone looking to strengthen their understanding of retail merchandising and inventory strategy
$299
Members
$499
Non-Members
Class Details
Class 1: Understanding the Numbers
September 2
Master the foundations of smart buying by examining the key factors that influence successful purchasing decisions. Participants will learn how financial tools and inventory performance metrics can help assess business health and support stronger inventory investment decisions.
Class 2: Understanding the Customer
September 8
Discover how customer needs, behaviors, and buying habits shape smarter purchasing decisions. Participants will learn practical ways to evaluate merchandise from the customer’s perspective and build a more profitable product mix.
Class 3: Communicating Value
September 10
Strengthen buying success by learning how marketing, messaging, and salesmanship work together to support better outcomes. Participants will learn how to communicate product value more effectively, improve sales execution, and measure performance through key productivity metrics.
Class 4: Pricing
September 17
Refine your approach to pricing by examining the role of price and quantity in making sound buying decisions. Participants will explore how pricing affects profitability, customer response, and inventory investment while considering how to align purchasing decisions with overall business goals.
Class 5: Merchandising and Markdowns
September 22
Optimize product performance by understanding how display, location, and seasonality influence results. Participants will learn how merchandising decisions can drive sell-through, support profitability, and help businesses respond more effectively to changing demand throughout the season.
Class 6: Managing the Entire Buying Process
September 23
Apply analytics, open-to-buy planning, and decision-making strategies to manage the full buying process more effectively. Participants will learn how to use these tools to manage inventory more strategically and improve buying performance across the business.
Our Speaker
Tom Shay
Tom Shay’s experiences as a fourth-generation small business owner provide him with the knowledge and background to present tried and proven ideas to assist owners, managers, and staff with the day-to-day operation of their business. During the 25 plus years that Tom was a part of the family business, the businesses were ongoing laboratories for the techniques that Tom shares.
He presents proven and time-tried ideas on the topics of business strategy, marketing, staff education, sales, and financial management.
A native of Fort Smith, Arkansas, Tom started his first job working in his grandfather’s general store. Tom moved to Florida to join his parents in the family operation they had purchased in 1971. Over the next 26 years, the Shay family owned and operated three businesses. In 1997, Tom sold the business to devote full time to the development of educational programs as well as writing magazine columns and books.
In addition to providing proven business building ideas through his writings in over 80 trade publications, Tom has authored twelve books on small business management and a college textbook on small business accounting.
As a speaker, Tom earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) distinction, an honor that has been earned by less than 8% of speakers worldwide. As a magazine columnist, Tom received three Jesse H. Neal award nominations, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of business-to-business journalism.