In 1989, the third generation of owners, Lewis Gerten, who manages the greenhouse production, Glen Gerten, who manages the nursery production, and their brother-in-law, Gino Pitera who manages the retail and commercial, took over ownership. Since then, they have grown from 12,000 square feet of retail space and three greenhouses on three acres to almost 40,000 square feet of indoor retail space, 10 acres outdoor irrigated retail space, and nineteen greenhouses on over seventy acres, and over five acres of brickyard. This new retail space includes a 1500 square foot Gift Shop, a 1200 square foot Grill Zone, Landscape and Design Department with two designers, and a 2000 square foot Water Gardening and Outdoor Living Center.
Gerten’s inventory which can be purchased on site or online includes: over 350 varieties of annuals, over 600 varieties of perennials (plus 190 types of rose bushes), over 225 shrubs, over 150 varieties of evergreens, over 175 and varieties off ornamental trees. Gerten’s also has one of the largest displays of Christmas lighting and accessories, and the areas finest selection of artificial, fresh, and permanent Christmas trees.
What is the secret to their success? Space, knowledgeable staff, attention to personalized customer service, the constantly changing scenery of their work environment, and the Gerten’s classes and seminars offered throughout the year to educate the public on various plant care techniques. To better serve their customers, Gerten’s sought out Valutec Card Solutions for their Electronic Gift Cards.
Currently, Gerten’s offers three cards: A Gift Card, a Reward Card, and A Plant Card. Next year they will be changing the look of their Gift Card by changing the name to a Gerten’s Shopping Card. Only two and a half years into using the Valutec Card Solution program, they have sold a combined total of over 20,000 cards.
Julie Anderson is the E-Commerce manager for Gerten’s, she is in charge of creating the web site information, promotions, implementing the Valutec Cards Solutions Program, and creating the gifts, and rewards, Gerten’s customers may redeem from their reward cards.
What sold Julie on using Valutec?
“I put out a lot of inquiries. And honestly, Leslie, their salesman was the nicest one out there. He said he just lived over in Burnsville, which is really close. So he came out right away, as if it was no trouble at all, and he just gave the right presentation. Everyone at Valutec has been so easy to work with,” Julie added.
Do people spend more money when they are using a Gift Card?
“We always know people will spend more with a gift card. I would say they spend about 20 percent more.”
Out of 20,000 plus active cards, how many have been deactivated?
“I would have to look at the paperwork, but I would guess maybe, two percent.”
Gino Pitera, is one of three owners of Gerton’s.
Why did Gino selected Valutec over someone else?
“Specifically, we were looking for someone to offer us electronic gift cards. The Reward cards were a bonus.
Why did Gerten’s switch from paper certificates to the Gerten’s Gift Card?
“People would lose the paper certificates, we’d transpose a number, and paper was hard to make change with; it was cumbersome.
How did switching over to the Gift Card change this?
“If they lose it, we can easily find out what they had. When the gift card empties out, a customer can recharge it. They can get down to their last penny. We have an extremely high redemption rate.”
Is there anything Gerten's would change about using the Gift Card?“We will be changing the Gerten’s Gift Cards name to the Gerten’s Shopper’s card. The words “Gift Card” limited the marketing. When we change the name, we will put different sleeves on it for our different promotions.
Why did Gino decide to use the Reward Card from Valutec?
“Our motives for loyalty with Valutec are probably different then other companies. I wanted to build a clean database of customers, unlike using a mailing list. I want to nurture the relationship with any customer who says, ‘Yeah, I’ll spend $15 for a Gerten’s Reward Card.’ Now we have a mailing list of 15,000-20,000 custom.
Using the Reward card has helped Gerten's business by saving money and retaining their customers. “We’ve reduced our marketing costs and bonded our customers to us. We wanted to make it valuable to us, and to our customers. Valutec has helped us do that.”
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