The Overall Market: Equipment, Supplies, and Services

• Study Methodology
• Regulation
• L&G Sales at $22 Billion in 2002
• Table 1-1: Estimated Overall Retail Sales of the U.S. Lawn and Garden Market: By Category, 1998-2002 (millions of dollars)
• Growth Patterns by Category
• L&G Retail Shares
• Four Macro Factors Will Determine Future Growth
• L&G Market Projection: $25 Billion by 2007
• Table 1-2: Projection Retails Sales of the U.S. Lawn and Garden Market by Category: 2003-2007 (millions of dollars)
• Size of Marketers
• Generalists vs. Specialists
• Retail Distribution Channels: Equipment/Supplies
• Big Boxes on Top

Lawn and Garden Equipment

• Equipment Category: Three Segments
• Regulation: EPA Phases I and II
• CARB Tier 2 Regulations
• Equipment Sales at $12.7 Billion in 2002
• OPE Dominates Equipment Dollar Share
• OPE Unit Shares: Gas-Powered Products
• Projections: Equipment Over $14 Billion by 2007
• Table 1-3: Projected Retail Sales of Lawn and Garden Equipment by Product Segment: 2003-2007 (millions of dollars)
• Top OPE Marketers
• Top Tools Marketers
• Top Watering/Spraying Marketers
• The Competitive Situation: Intense Consolidation/Shakeout
• Locus of New Product Innovation: Engine Technology
• Retail Share: Home Centers Rise, Discounters Down
• Home Centers Benefit From Marketer Alliances, Kmart Troubles
• Consumer Factors Favoring Ownership: Walk-Behind Mowers

Lawn and Garden Supplies

• Two Segments: Fertilizers/Growth Media and Pesticides
• Regulatory Bans and Restrictions
• Supplies Sales at $5.2 Billion
• Segment Share: F/GM Leads
• Projections: Subdued but Positive Growth
• The Marketers: Scotts Dominates
• United Industries/Spectrum Brands Suddenly in Second Place
• How Scotts Maintains Its Dominance
• Major New Product Trend: Organic/Natural Products
• Organophosphate Alternatives
• A Wide Range of Retail Outlets
• Mass vs. Specialty Retail Share
• Garden Centers/Nurseries Struggle
• Demographic Factors Favoring Purchase: All L&G Supplies

Professional Lawncare Services

• Definition: Treatment, Not Maintenance
• Prime Selling Points
• Customized Options
• Services at $3.9 Billion in 2002
• Reasons for Slight Growth Slowdown
• Projections: Strong but Slower Growth
• Most Firms are Small Independents
• TruGreen-Chemlawn Dominates
• Service Users Display Strong Upscale Profile

Chapter 2: The Overall Market

• Areas Outside Scope

The Products

• Three Categories: Equipment, Supplies, and Services
• Government Regulation
• The EPA
• EPA and OPE
• EPA and Pest Control
• The Food Quality Protection Act
• At the State Level
• At the Local Level

Market Size, Growth, and Competition


• Overview: Few Figures to Go On
• L&G Market Near $22 Billion in 2002
• Table 2-1: Estimated Overall Retail Sales of the U.S. Lawn and Garden Market: By Category, 1998-2002 (millions of dollars)
• Growth Patterns: 1998-2002
• Growth Patterns by Category
• Sales Share by Product Category
• L&G Retail Share
• Figure 2-1: Lawn and Garden Growth by Category, 1998-2002
• Figure 2-2: Sales Share of Lawn and Garden Market, by Category
• Table 2-2: Estimated Retail Share of U.S. Lawn and Garden Sales by Outlet Type, 2002
• Seasonality: Most Sales in Spring and Early Summer
• Regionality: Even Distribution by Population Patterns

Factors in Future Growth


• Overview: Four Macro Factors
• Positive: The Aging Baby Boomers
• Table 2-3: U.S. Population, by Age Group, 2000-2010
• L&G and Middle Age
• Positive: The Booming Housing Market
• Sales: New/Existing Homes
• Table 2-4: Sales of New and Existing Single-Family Homes: 1996-2002 (in thousands)
• Housing Starts
• Table 2-5: U.S. Housing Starts: 1996-2002 (in thousands)
• Why the Sustained Housing Boom?
• Housing and L&G Market
• Negative: The Economy
• 2002-2003: Dazed and Confused
• The Economy and the L&G Market: Outlook
• Negative: The Weather
• Extreme Springs
• The Global Warming Factor
• 2001 A Harbinger?
• Potential Opportunities in Climate Change
• Cultural Trends: Gardening Popularity Up
• A Reaction Against Lawns
• Outdoor Living Trend on the Wane
• Stay-at-Home Trend Waxing
• The Hispanic Factor
• The Regulation Factor
• The Consolidation Trend Positive
• Is the Retail Channel Contracting?
• Evolving L&G Products
• Biotechnology and L&G

Projected Market Growth


• L&G Market to Exceed $25 Billion in 2007
• Figure 2-3: Projected Growth of Lawn and Garden Market Sales, in Billions, 2003-2007
• Projected Growth by Category
• Table 2-6: Projected Retail Sales of the U.S. Lawn and Garden Market by Category: 2003-2007 (millions of dollars)

The Marketers


• Size of Marketers
• Generalists vs. Specialists
• U.S. vs. Foreign Ownership
• Major L&G Marketers: Overview
  • Major Marketers: OPE
  • Majors: Tools
  • Majors: Watering/Spraying Equipment
  • Majors: Supplies
  • Majors: Services

Retail and Distribution


• Retail Distribution Channels: Equipment/Supplies
• Anonmalous Retail Distribution: Lawncare Services
• Distribution Patterns: Direct vs. Intermediary
• OPE Dealership Distribution
• Distributors Still Play Vital Role
• At The Retail Level: Big Boxes on Top
• The Home Center Concept
• Home Depot the Leading L&G Retailer
• Reaching a Limit?
• Testing New Concepts
• Home Depot Landscape Supply
• Downsized HD Stores for Cities
• From Products to Services
• Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
• Wal-Mart and Kmart
• K-Martha
• Target
• Sears
• Garden Centers/Nurseries
• Hardware Stores
• Supermarkets and Drugstores
• Direct Sales: Mail-Order and Internet

Chapter 3: Lawn and Garden Equipment

• Government Regulations: Federal Labeling Standards
• Federal Performance Safety Standards
• EPA: Phases I and II
• CARB: Tiers I and II
• “Durability Requirements”
• Wrangling Over II and 2
• OPE Industry Successfully Adapting
• Noise Pollution and Leaf Blowers
• Municipal Restrictions and Bans
• Restrictions Spread from California
• The Politics of Noise Pollution
• OPEI Begins to Tacke The Issues
• OPEI’s PSA
• Third-Party Certification
• Local Yard Waste Restrictions

Market Size, Growth, and Composition
.

• Equipment Sales at $12.7 Billion
• Sales Stalling
• Table 3-1: Estimated U.S. Retail Sales of Lawn and Gardening Equipment by Product Segment: 1996-2002 (in millions of $)
• OPE Takes Biggest Hit
• Watering/Spraying: Modest Growth
• Tools/Implements Sluggish
• OPE Dominates Equipment Shares
• OPE Unit Shares: Gas-Powered Products
• Table 3-2: Share of Gas-Powered Outdoor Power Equipment Shipments: By Product Type, 2002
• Figure 3-1: Share of Gas-Powered Outdoor Power Equipment Shipments: By Product Type, 2002
• Decadal Shifts in OPE Shares
• Large OPE: Unit Shares
• Portable OPE: Unit Shares
• Unit Trends: Walk-Behind Lawn Mowers
• Unit Trends: Front-Engine Lawn Tractors
• Unit Trends: Garden Tractors
• Unit Trends: Rear-Enging (RE) Riding Mowers
• Unit Trends: Rotary Tillers
• Unit Trends: Trimmer/Brushcutters
• Unit Trends: Handheld Leaf Blowers
• Unit Trends: Chainsaws
• Unit Trends: Hegde Trimmers
• Unit Trends: Backpack Leaf Blowers
• “Guesstimated” Electric Shares
• Tools/ImplementsL Ownership Shares
• Watering/Spraying Equipment: Empirical, Anecdotal Evidence

Factors in Future Growth

• Facing External, Internal Challenges
• Reviewing 2001: Not a Good Year for Equipment
• After the Crash, a Rebound
• How Will a Sustained Slowdown Affect Sales?
• The Optimists
• Reinforcing the Stay-at-Home Trend
• The Strong Housing Market
• More DIY Positive
• The Pessimists
• Three Areas of Danger
• The Weather Hasn’t Been Good
• Proactivity and Climate Change
• Forces Weakening the OPE Manufacturing/Distribution System
• The Alleged Trouble with Investment Firms
• Demographics Are Strongly Positive
• The Appeal of Evolving Technology
• Factors in Tools/Implement Growth
• Factors in Watering Equipment Growth

Projected Category Sales

• Over $14 Billion by 2007
• Projections by Segment
• Table 3-3: Projected Retail Sales of Lawn and Garden Equipment by Product Segment: 2003-2007 (millions of dollars)

The Marketers

• Size and Type of Marketers
• Most Marketers Are Manufacturers
• Many Marketers Have Deep Historical Roots
• Domestic vs. Foreign Marketers
• Most OPE Makers with Diversified Interests
• More Crossover Marketing
• Leading Marketers: OPE
• The Top Three: Toro, Electrolux, and MTD
  • Toro Co.
  • Electrolux AB
  • MTD Products
  
  
• Leading Large OPE Specialists: Deere, Murray, Snapper, Honda
• Simplicity and the Second Tier
• Two Significant Minors: Country Home Products, GrassMasters
• Anomalous Situations: Sears and Black & Decker
  • Sears Is a Retailer
  • Black & Decker Electric Power
  
  
• Leading Portable OPE Specialists
• Chainsaw Specialists
• Tiller Marketers
• Chipper/Shreder Marketers
• Some Eclectic Significant Minors
• OPE Engine Manufacturers
• Leading Marketers: Tools/Implements
• The Top Two in Tools: Ames True Temper and Fiskars
• In the Second Tier: Union Tools, Corona Clipper
• Significant Minors in Tools
• Reel Mower Marketers
• Wheeled Implement Marketers
• Composter Marketers
• Leading Marketers: Watering/Spraying Equipment
  • Marketers: Garden Hoses
  • Marketers: Sprinklers/Accessories
  • Marketers: Irrigation Systems
  • Marketers: Spraying Equipment
  
  
• Table 3-4: Selected List of Lawn and Garden Equipment Marketers and Their Brands, 2003

The Competitive Situation

• The Age of Consolidation/Shakeout
• Not a Pretty Post-Millenial Picture
• First Stirrings of Consolidation/Shakeout
• 2001: The Crunch Sets In
• Widespread Struggling
• Post-2002: A Sense of Vulnerability
• In Watering/Spraying, a Contrasting Stability
• Outlook: More Suffering in Store?
• Coping with Consolidation: Restructuring
• MTD Revels in Consolidation
• Professional Marketers: Small but Solid
• Pro Mower Maker Crossover to Consumer Sector
• Consumer OPE Marketers Try the Reverse
• Tool Maketers Target Landscapers, Serious Gardeners
• Stihl Breaks a Taboo
• Subsegmenting and Niche Strategies
• Country Home Products: A Unique Niche Specialist
• The “New, Improved” Strategy
• Forging Exclusive Retailer Alliances
• Yet This Approach Has Its Perils

Competitive Profiles - OPE

• The Toro Company
  • Sales Staff, But Profits Up
  • Three Divisions
  • The Professional Division
  • A Strategic Reorientation in the 1990s
  • But Professional Division Struggling
  • Toro’s Residential Division: An Unexpected Bright Spot
  • Toro, Lawn-Boy, and Wheel Horse
  • Branded Mower Extensions
  • Toro’s Portable OPE Line
  • Restructuring in 2001
  • Recent Product Recalls
  • Toro Stays Atop the Trends
  
  
• MTD Products
  • A Full Line of Large and Portable Products
  • Five Large OPE Brand Lines
  • Acquires Ryobi, Then Troy-Bilt
  • Recent Focus on Cub Cadet and Yard-Man
  • Cub Cadet Now Sold at Lowe’s
  • An Educational Initiative
  • Recent Recalls
  • Focus: Ryobi
  
  
• Electrolux AB
  • Sales and Markets
  • Electrolux Home Products
  • Three OPE Subsidiaries
  • Strategic Acquisitions: 1978-1990
  • Poulan/Weed Eater
  • Husqvarna
  • Husky’s Into Lowe’s, Sears
  • Recent Innovations
  • American Yard Products
  
  
• Deere & Co.
  • Stagnant Sales, Declining Profits
  • Deere’s Divisions
  • Restructuring, Production Cutbacks
  • Deere Sells Off Homelite
  • Homelite’s Innovative Products
  • Bleeding Money
  • Homelite Sold to TechTronics
  • Deere Openly Moves Into Mass Channels
  • New Products
  
  
• Black & Decker
  • Sales Stalling
  • Business Segments and Brands
  • An Innovator in Electric OPE
  • Focus on the “Hog” Line
  • Recent Recall
  
  
• Murray, Inc.
  • 1988-1998: Flourished Under Tomkins
  • Acquired by Summersong - Restructuring
  • Murray Picks up a Few Items from Garden Way
  • Recent Recall
  
  
• Snapper, Inc.
  • Snapper Strikes a Deal with Wal-Mart
  • Metromedia Sells
  • Simplicity Buys
  • Simplicity/Snapper Solidifies Industry
  
  
• Garden Way
  • Radically Shifts Course - Troy-Bilt Suddenly into Stores
  • Building Sales and Resentment
  • The Final Miscalculation
  • An Ugly Ending
  • Garden Way’s Garage Sale
  
  
• Brief Competitive Profiles: OPE Marketers
  • Simplicity Mfg. Co.
  • Echo, Inc.
  • Blount International
  • Mackissic
  • U.S. Home and Garden

Competitive Profiles - Tools

• Ames True Temper
  • How Ames Achieved Success
  • Ames under U.S. Industries: Acquisitions
  • USI Sells ATT
  • New Owner: Wind Point Partners
  • Ames and True Temper Are Survivors
  
  
• Fiskars Corp.
  • Fiskars Brands
  • Five Groups
  • 1990s: Fiskars Goes on an Acquisition Binge
  • Transformed into Outdoor Lifestyle Marketer
  • Fiskars’ Garden Tools, Soaker Hoses
  • On Cutting-Edge of Cutting Tools
  • Most Recent Introductions
  
  
• Union Tools
  • Numerous Brand Lines
  • UT Is Consumer-Savvy
  • Lady Gardener
  • Despite Strengths, UT under Duress
  
  
• Brief Competitive Overviews: Tool Marketers
  • Corona Clipper
  • McGuire/Flexake
  • Formosa Tools/Garden Pals

  Competitive Profiles: Watering/Spraying Marketers
  

  • Tekni-Plex (Colorite Plastics and Swan Hose)
    • The Consumer Packaging and Products Division
    • TP Acquires Colorite in 1998
    • Then Buys Swan Hose in 2001
    • Focus: Colorite
    • Focus: Swan House
    
    
  • Brief Competitive Overviews: Watering/Spraying Marketers
    • Teknor Apex Co.
    • L.R. Nelson
    • Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg.
    • Gilmour
    • Melnor, Inc.
    • Root-Lowell Mfg. Co.

    New Products Trends
    

    • Rollout Velocity Slows
    • Variations on Existing Themes
    • Locus on Innovation: Engine Technology
      • Examples of New Engines
      
      
    • Leaner, Meaner, Cleaner Equals Hotter
    • Liquid-Cooled Alternatives
    • Elecric Product Intros Lag
    • The Future Could Be Brighter for Electric OPE
    • Hybrid Engines Suddenly Appear
    • On the Horizon: Solar, Hydrogen Power
    • A Flurry of Consumer Friendly Riding Mowers/Tractors
    • Professional Crossover Mowers
    • Easy-Start Mechanisms
    • Coming Soon: Computerization
    • Robotic Lawn Mowers
    • The Ultimate in Robot Mowers
    • Future Tense: Lasers Replace Blades?
    • The HoverMower
    • Few New Tools
    • Fiskars Keeps Feeding the Stream
    • Professional-Type Tools
    • Dynamic Activity in Composters
    • A Drought in New Watering Products
    • Attention Shifting to Water-Conservation Products
    • Drip-Type Systems Set to Soar
    • Using Sensors and Computers in Watering Systems
    • Table 3-5: Selected New Product Introductions: L&G Equipment, 2002-2002

    Distribution and Retail
    

    • Distribution Patterns
    • Retail Share: Home Centers Rise, Discounters Down
    • Home Centers Benefit from Marketer Alliances, Kmart Troubles
    • Wal-Mart Still Formidable
    • But Home Centers Favored by Marketers and Consumers
    • Home Depot’s Stand-Alone Store Strategy
    • Lowe’s Service Dealer Strategy
    • Lowe’s Perceived as More Upscale
    • OPE Dealers under the Gun
    • Dealer Profit Margins Not Good
    • Some Dealer Statistics
    • Dealer Coping Strategies
    • Sears
    • Hardware Stores
    • A Fresh Concept: Tractor Supply Co.
    • OPE Dealer Chains?
    • Smith & Hawken

    The Consumer
    

    • Explanatory Note on Simmons Market Research
    • Number of OPE Owners/Purchasers: By Product Type
    • Table 3-6: Outdoor Power Equipment: Number of Owners and Recent Purchasers by Product Type, 2002 (millions of households)
    • Factors Favoring Ownership: Walk-Behind Mowers
    • Riding Mowers and Garden Tractors
    • Garden Tillers
    • Fertilizer Spreaders
    • Snowthrowers
    • Leaf Blowers/Vacs
    • Edge/String Trimmers
    • Hedge Trimmers
    • Yard Trimmers
    • Number of Tools/Implements Owners: By Product Type
    • Table 3-7: Tools/Implements: Number of Owners and Recent Purchasers by Product Type, 2002 (millions of households)
    • Factors Favoring Ownership: Tools/Implements
    • Table 3-8a: Demographic Characteristics Favoring Ownership of Power Equipment By Product Type, 2002
    • Table 3-8b: Demographic Characteristics Favoring Ownership of Power Equipment By Product Type, 2002
    • Table 3-9a: Demographic Characteristics Favoring Ownership of Tools/Implements By Product Type, 2002
    • Table 3-9b: Demographic Characteristics Favoring Ownership of Tools/Implements By Product Type, 2002

Chapter 4: Lawn and Garden Supplies

• Fertilizers/Growth Media: Four Product Types
• Fertilizers: Supplements, Not Foods
• Fertilizer Forms/Terminology
• Growth Media
• Pest Control Supplies: Three Product Types
• Weed-and-Feed Products

Government Regulation

• Pesticides: Federal Regulation
• Pesticide Regulation
• The Food Quality Protection Act
• EPA Takes Aime at Organophosphates
• Banning Dursban; Phasing Out Diazinon
• Two States Move to Ban Clopyralid
• Are Triazines Next on Hit List
• Fertilizer Restrictions on the Local Level
• RISE Is Formed to Defend the Industry
• Pesticide and Fertilizer Labeling

Market Size, Growth, and Composition


• Sales at $5.2 Billion
• Table 4-1: Estimated U.S. Retail Sales of Lawn and Garden Supplies by Product Segment: 1998-2002
• Why the Growth Rate Is Slowing
• Segment Share: F/GM Leads
• Figure 4-1: Share of Lawn/Garden Supplies Sales, 2002
• Pesticides Appear to Grow More Slowly
• Popularity of Supplies: By Product Type
• Various Statistics on Supplies by Product Type
• Retail Share
• Figure 4-2: Share of Lawn Supplies Sales, By Retail Type, 2002
• Regionality

Factors in Future Growth


• Some Strong Positives
• The Economy Could Be a Problem
• The Weather is a Wild Card
• Supplies and Perceptions
• Branding Creates Positive Perceptions
• Consolidation Could Help
• New Products Will Definitely Help
• Environmental Awareness Poses a Challenge
• Some Discontent with the Synthetic Status Quo
• The Logic of Synthetics
• An Industry Reorientation Could Fit Well with Cultural Trends
• Industry Resistance and Natural Resistance

Projected Category Growth


• Subdued but Positive Growth
• Projections by Product Segment
• Table 4-2: Projected Retail Sales of Lawn and Garden Supplies by Product Segment: 2003-2007

The Marketers


• Size and Type Of Marketers
• Concentration at the Top
• Scotts Dominates
• United Industries/Spectrum Brands Suddenly in Second Place
• The Dissolution of Bayer-Pursell
• Note on Second-Tier and Significant-Minor Marketers
• Marketers: Lawn Fertilizers
• Marketers: Plant Foods
• Marketers: Potting Soil
• Marketers: Peat Moss
• Marketers: Lawn Lime
• Marketers: Landscape Fabric
• Marketers: Insecticides
• Marketers: Herbicides
• Marketers: Weed Preventers
• Agrochemical Giants in Pesticides
• Major Agrochems and Their Brands
• Table 4-3: Selected List of U.S. Lawn and Garden Supplies Marketers, 2003

The Competitive Situation


• It’s Simple: Scotts Rules
• But There’s Always a Challenger
• Bayer-Pursell Dissolves
• A New Rival Arises: United/Spectrum
• Scotts vs. United: The Gap Is Narrowing
• How Scotts Maintains Its Dominance
• Pursuing Successful Niche Strategies
• Competing by Acquiring
• Competition: Fertilizer/Growth Media
• Pesticides Competition and the Agrochemical Giants
• Bayer Acquires Aventis
• Competitive Profile: Scotts Co.
  • A Major L&G Crossover Marketer
  • Acquisition Patterns
  • Sales Stagnant Since 1999
  • Six Marketing Groups
  • Sales Trends by Group
  • Scotts’ Brands
  • Branding in U.K. and North/Central Europe
  • Ortho and Roundup
  • Miracle-Gro: Strategic Magic
  • True Synergy
  • Method to Madness
  • Taking the Bull by the Horns
  • Under the Miracle-Gro Umbrella
  • Recent MG Spin-Offs
  • Extending the Scotts and Ortho Lines
  • Into Biotech
  • A Sort-Of Image Update
  • Scotts Is Optimistic
  • Virgin Supermarkets
  • Medium-Term Plans
  
  
• Competitive Profile: United Industries Corp.
  • UI Acquires Pursell’s Brands
  • Next Acquisition: Schultz Co.
  • Gaining Valuable Retail Connections
  • UI/SB’s Current Sales and Stakes
  • Laudable Ambitions
  • Greenhorn in Natural Niches
  • UI and Bayer
  • Pursell: A Leader in Fertilizer R&D and Manufacturing
  • Pursell’s Brands
  • Pursell Technologies
  
  
• Brief Competitive Profiles
  • A.H. Hoffman
  • Green Light Co.
  • Bonide Products
  • Woodstream Corp.
  • Premier Horticulture
  • Central Garden & Pet
  • U.S. Home & Garden

  New Product Trends
  

  • Time-Release Fertilizer
  • Moisture-Control Agents
  • Specifically Targeted Products
  • Spikes and Stakes
  • Organic/Natural Products
  • Neem Oil Products
  • New Natural Brand Lines
  • Bio-Organic and Hydroponic Products
  • Winterizing Products
  • Liquids into Concentrates
  • Organophosphate Alternatives
  • Value-Added Peat Moss
  • New-Wave Soil Amendments
  • Trends in Mulch
  • Better Pesticide Applicators
  • Resealable Packaging
  • Foreign-Language Labeling
  • Table 4-4: Selected New Product Introductions: Lawn and Garden Supplies, 2001-2002

  Distribution and Retail
  

  • Direct Distribution Up
  • A Wide Range of Retail Outlets
  • Mass v.s Specialty Retail Store
  • Home Centers vs. Discounters
  • Kmart’s Troubles
  • Discounters and Private Label
  • Garden Centers/Nurseries Struggle
  • Frank’s Nursery and Crafts
  • Other GN/C Chains
  • Garden Center/Home Décor Combo Stores Not Successful
  • Profile: Molbak’s
  • Profile: Phanton-Gardener - Focus on Natural/Organic Niche
  • GC/Ns Joining Co-o Buying Groups
  • Numerous Co-Op Benefits
  • Examples of Buying Groups

  The Consumer
  

  • Lawn Fertilizer Most Popular Product
  • Purchasing Patterns by Sex
  • Factors Favoring Purchase: All Supplies
  • Purchaser Profiles: Lawn Fertilizer, Garden Fertilizer
  • Purchaser Profile: Plant Food
  • Purchaser Profile: Compost
  • Purchaser Profile: Synthetic (Lawn/Garden) Insecticide
  • Purchaser Profile: Synthetic (Lawn) Herbicide
  • Purchaser Profile: Organic Insecticide
  • Tables 4-5a and b: Demographic Characteristics Favoring Ownership of Lawn and Garden Supplies: By Product Type, 2002

Chapter 5: Professional Lawncare Services

• The Services: Definition/Parameters
• Lawncare Operators: Selling Points
• The Standard Treatment Program
• Customized Programs
  • Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
  • Organic Treatment Programs
  
  
• Enhanced Services
• Fungicide Treatments
• Prices for Programs

Market Size, Growth and Composition

• Services at $3.9 Billion in 2002
• Table 5-1: Estimated Sales of Professional Lawncare Services: 1998-2002
• Reasons for Slight Growth Slowdown
• Standard Programs Predominate
• Residential Business Accounts for Lion’s Share
• Seasonality
• Regionality

Factors in Future Growth


• Homeowners and Boomers Strongly Positive
• DIY Reluctance Regarding Chem Treatment
• Slowing Economy an Obstale to Services Growth
• The Weather Could Be Negative
• Despite Obstacles, Strong Demand for Services Will Continue
• Price Rises Appear Invisible
• Regulations: Negatives and Positives
• Industry Defensive on Regulations
• Proactive Approach Needed, But Fragmentation Stands in the Way
• The Labor Picture
• Learning Spanish
• Consolidation: Pros and Cons
• Retailer Alliances

Projected Category Sales


• Demand Should Remain Strong
• Over $5 Billion by 2007
• Table 5-2: Projected Sales of Professional Lawncare Services: 2003-2007
• The Marketers
• Most Firms Are Small Independents
• Then There’s TruGreen-Chemlawn
• Regional Franchise Operations

The Competitive Situation


• Consolidation Name of the Game
• Pressure on Independents
• Indys Play up Strengths
• Adding Services
• The Franchising Option
• Competitive Profile: ServiceMaster (TruGreen-ChemLawn)
  • Consumer/Commercial and Other Divisions
  • A Unique Strategy
  • SM’s Buyout Strategy Applied to Lawncare Services
  • TruGreen-ChemLawn in the Doldrums
  • Turning Things Around
  • LandCare Acquisition Hard to Swallow
  • A New Mowing Service
  • Retail Alliance Tested with Home Depot
  • Test Ends, But Positive Impressions Linger
  • Has TGCL Gotten Too Big?
  
  
• Competitive Profile: Scotts Lawnservice
  • Scotts’ Road to Success
  • External and Internal Growth Strategies
  • Being Careful about Acquisitions
  • Target Cities
  • Committed to “Do-It-For-Me” Market
  
  
• Competitive Profile: Lawn Doctor
  • Franchise Fees
  • Standard Program
  • Customized Treatment Services
  
  
• Competitive Profile: Weed Man
  • Weed Man’s Plan of Attack
  • No. 2 by 2010?
  • A Comprehensive System

  The Consumer
  

  • Estimated Number of Service Users
  • Note: Profile Inferred
  • Service Users Display Strong Upscale Profile
  • Some Homeowner Statistics
  • Listening to Sinatra and Streisand

Chapter 6: Trends and Opportunities

• Overview: Positives with Negatives
• Transforming Negatives into Positives
• Demographics: Automatically Positive Opportunities
• Another Automatic Opportunity: Stay-at-Homeowners
• The Silver Lining in Economic Clouds
• Opportunities in Acknowledging Climate Change
• Regulation: Consumer Education a Must
• Great Opportunities in Natural/Organic
• Placing High-Tech in a Larger Context
• Consolidation Offers Marketing Opportunities

Appendix I: Glossary

Appendix II: Addresses of Selected Marketers