The Dirt - September

This is it, gang.  It's go time. Fall is in the air, football’s on TV, and the time when DG puts its best foot forward.  On the heels of an inspiring visit last month to see 3,000 trial beds of Sunflowers, we are fired up to deliver the variety and color, the single items and arrangements and the creative plans and programs you’ve come to expect from us.  I invite and encourage you to get in on the fun and see how we can work together. Let’s capitalize on this short but unique time of year when deep, rich autumnal hues and interesting green grasses and stems capture consumers’ imaginations and draw them indoors for warmth and wellbeing. Marco Rivera and our Sales Team are all over this plan.  Marco heads to Chicago early this month to reinforce our fall flare for some very important partners.  Later he’ll lead a team through visits to the Northeast and the Midwest as they firm up fall designs and plans and begin planning for 2013.  The goal, of course, is to be proactive about what’s on the horizon for our partners and to be strategic and specific about how we can drive success for your business.  Business Development Managers also will travel to accounts in Utah, Texas, Georgia and Arizona to share product knowledge and ensure a successful fall season. Go, Team, go! I’m staying put in Vista most of this month, so please reach out with any questions, suggestions or fabulous ideas that bring more flowers to more people.  Annie just started fifth grade, and Jack is in Kindergarten.  He wants to know when Melissa and I are going to learn all the neat things his teacher knows.  Good question. I hope the “flip” from summer to fall is great for all of us!

Meals on Wheels and their amazing accomplishments have been a presence in my life for many years. Growing up in Moline, Illinois, my mother was a volunteer and I often accompanied her on deliveries. It was a moving experience for me even as a child and of course my Mom made sure to point out how grateful everyone on her route was to see us. Fast forward 15 years. After university, I moved to San Diego and through a lot of luck and a little hard work, I became the owner of a flower company – Dos Gringos. Our mission is to bring smiles to millions. We accomplish this by growing and assembling bouquets for over 10,000 grocery stores in the United States and Canada. Mother Nature has her own schedule some years and in1995 I found myself with an abundance of Sunflowers, our signature flower. I wanted to donate them instead of throwing them away and the first organization that came to my mind was Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego. So I donated everything I had extra to them in the form of bouquets. A few days later a call was put through to me. The lovely lady on the other end was crying. It turns out she was an 84 year-old-recipient of Meals-on-Wheels and this was the first time in her life she had EVER received flowers. That was the beginning of a wonderful relationship between Meals-on-Wheels and Dos Gringos. Today, we are honored to provide every North County Meals-On-Wheels recipient with a bouquet on his or her birthday. In addition, we donate the flowers for all the hard-working volunteers at their annual luncheon, for “Suns for Seniors” events around town and for a number of other fundraisers that Meals-on-Wheels puts on throughout the year, most recently, the Boogleggers’ Ball. Giving back is an important part of mine and the lives of my teammates at Dos Gringos’ and Meals-on-Wheels is the perfect partner in this endeavor. Oh and I almost forgot to mention. After providing me with The George A. Scott Award* in 2008, they also graciously asked if I would sit on their Board. Needless to say, I said yes. Now I get a chance to not only donate flowers but also my brain. I love the Meals-on-Wheels and everything they stand for!

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The Dirt - August Issue

I hope this update finds you relishing the last weeks of summer and flat out ignoring the other “S” word that will be upon all of us soon enough.

The crew here is finishing up most of the infrastructure work we take on at this time of year. Robin and Gabe have done an amazing job with the Design Studio, and the attention right now is on lighting and finishing touches. Again, this space is meant to welcome you in and encourage you to get creative with products and arrangements that will work best for you and your consumers. If anyone can find the best lighting for that, it’s Robin and Gabe.

Several of us remain in travel mode. Marco Rivera’s Sales Team has been out and about all summer visiting face-to-face with clients and gaining a greater understanding of how we work together so everyone wins. He’s gained all kinds of ideas and insights from your generous, thoughtful conversations, and I can’t wait to see how that translates into fall projects and programs.

Aaron Motola, April Harrell, Todd Thornton, and myself traveled northern California this week to meet with our seed hybridizer and gauge our progress toward the natural red and white Sunflowers we are working hard to secure. It's a long process and our team remains determined and focus to keep improving vase life and colors of our signature sunflowers.

On Saturday, May 5, the Dos Gringos Team set a new record for the largest sales volume in a single day. This also was the day that “I’ll Have Another” won the 2012 Kentucky Derby, so we’ll celebrate in style at the Del Mar Race Track with “DG Day at the Races” on Aug. 17.

When we return to work the following Monday, our fall focus takes center stage. The autumn months are an ideal showcase for Dos Gringos’ quality and expertise. We’ve got the product, the design and the drive to make this season shine. To that end, we’re forecasting for Sunflowers from mid-November through mid-January, and we’re putting the finishing touches on fall crops and harvest schedules to ensure we meet all of our commitments. Later in August we’ll start booking deadlines for “Just Add Roses” for Valentine’s Day.

Summer’s not summer without family time, right? July and August include some fun milestones for my crew, and we always take advantage of the opportunity to get together. We were fortunate to celebrate my Mom’s 70th birthday in July with a long weekend in Denver. Annie and Jack were blown away by Uncle D’s downtown bachelor pad and how hip he is compared to their own Mom and Dad. Sigh.

This month brings Jack’s 6th birthday and a one-week stay for Annie and Jack at “Camp Grandma & Grandpa” in Moline, Illinois to round out the summer.

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The Dirt - July Issue

 
As I mentioned in June, “Road Work Ahead” is our theme for the summer.

While some of us are boarding planes to build the partnerships critical to our business, others are refreshing and retooling our Fresh Flower Factory in Vista, California to ensure we’re ready for the busy and exciting fall harvest.

Marco and his team have filled their calendars with client visits in no less than 18 states through the end of August.  They’ll touch down and touch base in cities from Sacramento to Denver, St. Louis to Miami, Pittsburgh to Baltimore, and several other sites in between.

The goal is to listen, to understand and to make the necessary plans and investments that provide what you need to succeed.  We’ve got results from a consumer research project that we did in May that we think you’ll find interesting and informative.  We hope they’ll spark some great discussion and help us work in tandem to develop action plans for the second half of 2012.  Together we can offer the industry and the end user products and programs they won’t find anywhere else.

 

Meanwhile, back in Vista…a summer “refresh” continues on virtually all of our processes and procedures.  Equipment is being upgraded and service is being done on hardware and software alike to ensure we’re always up to snuff and state of the art.

Perhaps most exciting is what’s up downstairs.  Robin Mooney and Gabe Gill are spending most of their summer on what we’ve dubbed, at least unofficially, our “Idea Lab.”  The dream is to create a space on our lower level that invites and inspires our clients to touch and feel everything we offer, to visit at length with our design and our production team, and – this is the best part, I think – to let your imagination run wild.  What ideas do you have? What would you try if there was no risk?  What are your customers asking for that you haven’t been able to deliver?  Let’s talk about it and try “stuff” together.

Together let’s plant and nurture the seed that becomes the next “big thing.” 

 

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The Dirt - June Issue

For years I’ve opened the June issue of our newsletter by sharing our excitement for the annual SuperFloral/IFE Show in Miami. I’d give a sneak peek at our plans and products, remind you to come see us, even invite you to a party we planned just so we could reconnect and catch up. Good times, great memories.

Not this year.

Make no mistake… we still love a good time as much as the next team – and you know we love the personal relationships we’ve forged over the years. But in true Dos Gringos style, we’ve decided to mess with the status quo in favor of our clients. We’ve determined that the time and resources typically put toward SuperFloral are better spent on trips to see and visit with Y-O-U.

That's right, you can run but you can't hide. We're coming to see you in person. Well, as many of you as humanly possible. And we won’t be empty-handed. We'll be bringing the results of a consumer study DG commissioned to help all of us learn more about consumer behaviors and preferences within the floral industry. The information is interesting and insightful and could have a great impact on how we work together in the future.

 
While the cat’s away, the mice will not play. As I hit the road, my team is working on a number of summer projects. Marco Rivera is knee-deep in planning for several client-specific shows we’ve been invited to. Aaron Motola is in fall planting mode, buying seed and getting the ground ready for the autumn harvest.

It’s not too early to be thinking about October! Let us know your product hopes and dreams before it’s too late. Gabe Gill is always cooking up ways to make the plant work better and faster at the highest quality standards. Mark Young continues his work on our forecast program, and Robin is rocking some brand new bouquet designs for 2013.

I do have one piece of bad news this month. After 36 years of giving her heart and soul to the floral industry, Charlotte Russeth is retiring. A great asset to this team and a beloved member of the family, Charlotte wants to hang out with her husband, visit family scattered around the globe, and take advantage of the infinite outdoor activities in her home state of Colorado. Hard to argue with that, right?

Charlotte has the last word in an interview below. Please join me in wishing her a fond farewell and a wonderful retirement. There’s no one like her. 

“The floral industry is a very small world,” notes Charlotte. “After several years it becomes a second family. I’ve met wonderful people – lifelong friends – and had the chance to learn every aspect of this industry. Store level, management, merchandising, category management, buyer, logistics. You name it, I’ve done it. My six years with Dos Gringos brought me full circle and allowed me to see the grower’s side of the story and be DG’s feet on the street. There’s great satisfaction in that.”

What did you enjoy most about Dos Gringos?
I wanted to work for a west coast grower. The products are unique and special. When you add the innovation that DG promotes, you’ve really got something. “Just Adds” took roses from a cost-prohibitive item to a commodity available to everyone. Cup of Sunshine and Half Palettes were fun to promote and sell. The personality and passion at DG are second to none. They’re not afraid to jump out from the crowd and put resources into something innovative.

How does DG maintain the momentum you created?
Bouquets and Consumer Bunch programs. Mass markets need more of these. Dos Gringos has thoughtfully and purposely expanded its product line, and Robin has a great eye for design. People will look to her for direction and inspiration. With quality, processes, and people, DG is set up for success in bouquets and Consumer Bunches.

Biggest challenge:
Education. Americans don’t consume flowers the way Europeans do. Building these numbers requires a lot of education about the value and the beauty of flowers. California flowers and foliage are interesting and gorgeous, but we need to spread them across the country; we need to get them all the way to the East Coast consistently and at high quality. We’ve got to spread the word. Ranunculus is great, but stores aren’t used to it. We’ve got to change that.

What about Suns?
No one does them better than DG. Once we started shipping them in a “sell” stage, it changed the way the industry looks at Sunflowers. With all the variety and color DG offers, this item will be hot for years.

Who we gonna call?
Jenny Butterfass will take over my responsibilities. The great news is that she’s right with the team, in Vista, CA. It doesn’t get more hands-on than that. She’ll do a terrific job, and I urge you to reach out to her.

Retirement sounds heavenly. Anything about it that worries you?
I’m worried about missing my peeps and being able to “turn off” my drive for customer service and quality. I’ve always prided myself on excellent customer service, which often meant being tied to the computer 10 hours a day. Now as I take advantage of kayaking, biking, hiking, snow shoeing and rafting, being away from deadlines and responsibilities will take some getting used to. I’ll miss the day-to-contact I had with like-minded professionals.

 In the Community
Donated Sunflowers, which were sold by the foundation, contributed $2500 in scholorship money to the students chosen by Chelsea’s Light Foundation and for the family of a local athlete who passed away suddenly.

Staff Appreciation!
Jason personally serves lunch to Teammates at the Staff Appreciation Luncheon where a good time and good food was had by all!   

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