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Originally Posted by Damn Brit

I agree with most of what you have said but the quote above isn't always true. Here's an example;
I work in an independent nursery and we sell quality plant material and provide personal service, a lot of the big box stores (one in particular) sell plant material at low prices without the service and a high mortality rate. The thinking was that these big box stores were killing the independents with their low prices. This has been proved untrue, the reality is that new gardeners buy these cheap plants which then die. Instead of going to an independent nursery after this, they just give up on the gardening completely.

You are absolutely right. The good independents (those willing to adapt to inevitable change) don't go away. Some actually thrive. Some of these new gardeners probably won't try again, but most (not necessarily all) probably would have never stepped foot into the independent store to begin with. They shopped solely on price and got burned.

On the bright side, what you have there is a small market waiting to be tapped....a good marketing campaign to counter the "cheap store next door". .......

"Bad taste in your mouth because you bought one of those cheap plants from that other guy? No worries mate! Come to our store and we will not only give you healthy product, we will also SHOW you how to do it right so you end up spending less in the long run." Ohhh yeah!

So in the end, you look better than before!