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My own experience with Lowes Outside Lawn and Garden lately
Hello friends,
Madgardener here. After putting my post from Garden Web here with responses from others over there, I wanted to be more up front about this situation. I'm not yet comfortable enough to be 100% up front over on GW. I work at my local Lowes in the Outside Lawn and Garden department. Last year I hired on specifically in this department because I love the plants, working with the plants, taking care of them, and interaction with customers. I am what I consider an asset to the company because of my vast knowledge of this merchandise, and my enthusiasm with people spills over into other areas. I'm smart enough to learn other aspects in regards to other job performances, and just in general feel that at my age, I'm worthy of working there. That, and I have been told and learned that Lowes really is a good company to work for. Having said that mouthful, I agree. I like working for them. I love the people they employ. They really do seem to care about the customer as well as their employees. Yes, there's drama and problems and normal corporate doings, but all in all I have to say that Lowes is one of the better larger corporations to work for. Since my induction to the madness of Outside Lawn and Garden (and Lowe's in general being the home improvement store it is) last February, I've now passed into my first year and tasted a normal year. They have what they laughingly refer to as "the 100 days of madness" which is the onset and surge of home improvement, gardening and lawn care after winter starts to subside. That whole department is referred to as Seasonal. In OL&G, it encompasses fencing, pool products, stepping stones, soils,straw,pine needles, fertilizers,mulches, pots, plants, trellises, corrorugated pipe for drainage, and retaining blocks. The greenhouse is part of it, but is part of Inside Lawn and gardening, and that's patio stuff, more pots, tropical plants, insecticides, fertilizers (specialty), mowers (yard equipment) and all that encompasses),garden tools, grills, fireplaces, fans, air conditioners,engine oils for power equipment like those mowers, weedeaters, chain saws and what not, and winter there is also the Christmas stuff. trees, ornaments etc. Having said THAT mouthful, since last year when I was a waterier, plant care person and customer service associate, I also ran the cash registers when they needed me to, among other responsibilities. It was grueling. I was also used as a loader. And was going to be required to learn to operate a fork lift, which I was looking forward to getting my license for this late winter. When the winter season basically ended after Christmas, I was moved inside to work at the front cash registers, or in Commercial sales or tools. I didn't mind. It got me out of the cold nursery where there was still a need for fencing, pavers, pipe, and what not. During my first season in OL&G last year, I quickly learned there had been way more than what I saw as a customer of over 8 years there. It meant pushing those towering, heavily loaded 6-8 tiered racks on wheels loaded with tens of pots of plants across the concrete from the back of the nursery. This Lowes is one of the newer, larger ones. And put them out after that. And trees. And load pavers, bags of rocks, bagged goods etc for customers. Not only watering. And the heat out there on that concrete is incredible. Last year I got heat stroke twice, despite that I carry a huge jug filled with tea and later Gatoraid. As I worked there, customers started coming in looking for me. This was partially from interaction from me as I was out on the floor, and partially because the cashiers in the nursery would field their questions towards "the woman out there in the plants with the flowered hat on, that's Marilyn, the madgardener" I knew the plants. I knew fertilizers and insecticides, I was a master gardener (don't flame me for that, I'm proud to be one, but it was 10 years ago I got my papers regarding that. I'm more self educated and that's a daily process) and I have a way about me that encourages people. I'm a good salesperson, and as committed as I am regarding my passion for plants, I'm also good for the department I work in because I'm sincere. I won't sell you a distressed plant. Or a diseased one or one with pests. I care. And it's evident when you come across me at the nursery. When I moved inside, and my part time hours were few and far between, I was told customers kept coming in looking and asking for me specifically because I knew the greenhouse plants and such as well on my days off. I also tend to take the customers where they need to go elsewhere in the store, a practice I've always done. I'm accommodating. But it's something that is encouraged by management because it's going out of the way to be helpful and encourages future sales. I never had to be told this. I treat people like I want myself to be treated. Being a cashier was interesting. And I learned quite a bit those short months, but I was looking forward to getting back out in my department. It became a sort of joke with the regulars and some that weren't familiar with me. As they checked out, the regulars who knew me from the nursery would be surprised to see me up front on the cash register and remark accordingly. "What are YOU doing HERE??" became a repetative response. Or I'd give out advice about a tropical plant and they'd really appreciate it. I'd tell them it was a matter of time and season I'd be back outside and they all expressed relief because as I was often told "you don't need to be in here, you need to be outside where you can help US!" g It made me feel needed and wanted. Things changed this year. As you all saw in my original post at the top (I didn't write the Home Despot post, I pasted it to share the thread with all of you from GW). I posted about the disturbing practices lately of Lowes in their garden departments. This may not reflect ALL Lowes. That's why I put it the way I did. They probably do things differently in Arizona or Texas. Or California. I'm just reporting what I see up close and personal at MY Lowes and know others in the area are experiencing the same thing. I don't like it. One of the reasons I work there is because I liked the plants they carried (they have stopped carrying Stacey's perennials this year) in the past, the rapport with the employee's, the enviroment and their compassion. That's another reason I wanted to work for them. This year the powers that be have decided for whatever reasons to relocate me. Since I really am an asset to the store, they want to keep me in the nursery, so they've taken me out of OL& G completely and made me a cashier for the nursery. I first had been told I was a waterer again this year, but that things were going to be stricter with the new Miracle Gro plants they were carrying exclusively this year. My thoughts were "ho boy, Miracle gro plants......grown in specialized Miracle gro soil, nurtured with Miracle gro to make them grow even faster than normal, in a soil less mix, getting rootbound faster, and higher priced than the plants we carried last year" I also knew that this year the MG plants were going to be "billed back" if some didn't sell or died. No mark downs, no discounts, no throwing them away. At all. BUT there was also another policy put into place. First time this happened. Of plants getting distressed and becoming unsellable, we'd get 100% credit for them. But the second time this happened, the nursery would be reimbursed 50%, and a third time this happened, no credit and corporate would come down and rip someone's ass. The department manager, and probably even the zone manager. And I'd say from there it would go further up the store ladder with the store manager if it went past that. (there is an outside garden manager, a team leader, and what is called a zone manager who is over both inside and outside gardening and plumbing...........). At the meeting before I was moved a week later, I told the loss prevention manager that I would not take responsibility for the death and loss of plants that were rootbound and incapable of maintaining moisture. when plants were rootbound and in soil less mix, they didn't hold moisture at all. And if I was the official waterer, I needed more than 4 hours every other day or every two days to do an efficient job. Watering was a full time job once the season started. I knew and expressed this that there would be at times from 3-7 trucks loaded with plants coming every other day once the spring season started. We were right on the edge there at the end of February. And I was right. Two days later, we got three trucks with fruit trees, ornamental spring bushes, more tropicals for the greenhouse as well as forced pots of bulbs, shamrocks for St. Patty's day, and orchids. It had started. But worse, there arrived on a day I was off, trucks ladened with ANNUALS. And these were Miracle gro annuals. And some asian lilies potted up in wide mouth plastic containers with four bulbs each in the MG mix and bud tight. The first were red lilies. As soon as I saw them on the outside table, I knew disaster was about to occur. It was just the end of the first week of March. Then I was informed I no longer worked in OL & G and was a nursery cashier starting the 13th and even though I was confused, I accepted grudgenly my change in position and went to my post. I was told by a manager that I was still desperately needed in the garden center but to maintain peace (some store politics) someone else was made a waterer and I was now officially a nursery cashier. They did me a favor. In sorts. I would still be able to advise plants and such to the customers only not go out on the floor to show them plants. I'd have to familarize myself with what we had, keep abreast of where things were placed and stick to my cash register and do those duties involved. I was no longer a waterer. I wasn't even on the OL & G schedule. I was posted with the cashiers. Oh well..........I also didn't have to lift heavy bags of rocks, mulch, pavers, load straw, put out plants, push heavy racks of plants, lift trees, be out on the scorching concrete or run all over the garden center or store now. I dealt with the inner politics and despite my anguish over not being "out there on the floor" doing what I loved, I also knew this would affect the garden center eventually as all those regulars and others started trickling in, and then coming in in droves and floods. I KNEW it was a mistake but kept my mouth shut. Kinda. Their new plant specialist was hired because they knew how to do the job, but didn't know doodle about plants........ but they turned to me and someone else who had done it for 3 years until they got tired of corporate over seeing and over stepping the plant orders and then they quit and moved into the infrastructure. She helped the new specialist a lot and I offered my complete cooperation and knowledge. They expressed deep gratitude for this. But then along with the too early arrival of annuals, and those Asian lilies. And when I saw them there on the tables in the beautiful Spring weather, I advised my customers who were clueless about them to plant them, enjoy their flowers if they opened up, and to cover them if threat of frost or freeze came up in the near future because they'd lose the buds but the bulbs and stems and leaves would be fine and come next year, they'd come up when they were really supposed to because I had raised beds and my lilies were just poking outa the soil........... I did this for the days they had me scheduled, and even advised a few who asked to wait on purchases on annuals they saw because it was a bit too early for here................. the madness continued. I came in to see more and more plants arriving and placed out. And sure enough, we got a hard freeze. A VERY hard freeze. One that defied frost cloths that were put out the first night, but since they have all new people out in the OL& G department this year with exception to two people, no one covered anything the other two nights and it looked like a cooked turnip green display. The carnage was awful. And they had the new waterer watering the shade plants the night of the worst freeze and even those plants that were protected by that got hit because of the overwatering and freezing of the soils and such. It was sad and pathetic. I kept my mouth shut. I knew it was going to happen. And it would happen again. Well, I didn't work in the department anymore. I was now a cashier. but it was starting to affect the customers. I started hearing complaints about the appearance of the plants. And the absurdity of some plants so soon for this area. The worst was after the post I made about the Columbines. Three days later we got in Pelargoniums or geraniums and I am over this stupidity. Apparently whomever they have in the upper eschelons of the company who oversees the plant purchses and whatnot and decides things is more interested in getting them visual and sold. I will remain on the cash register, buy plants from them as I see them, advise my customers as best I can until the pace restricts me from doing more than ringing up sales (it will get totally insane once the season starts for real. These past three days of beautiful weather has proven that with the mass of new house owners and new residents who are moving to this area by the droves. Last year we didn't have to open the third register until mid April. this year we had to do it last weekend because it was georgous and the people were out in masse. This is all I wanted to tell ya'll. And I ain't starting crap. I still work for Lowes, but things have changed is all. I might eventually even change that, but I;ll let you know if that happens. A garden update is coming soon. thanks for letting me talk about these things. I appreciate it. madgardener up on the ridge, back in a rainy, cold Fairy Holler overlooking English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee zone 7, Sunset zone 36 |
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