Picture a busy garden center filled with customers. Did you know your greenhouse design plays a major role in creating that experience?

A well-designed retail greenhouse added to your garden center attracts customers and enhances their shopping experience.

Customers can form an opinion of your garden center in as little as seven seconds. First impressions don’t get second chances, so make those seven seconds count.

Use every inch of your greenhouse—inside and out—to create an unforgettable shopping experience.

Spend Where Customers See It

Want to impress your customers? Invest in highly visible retail greenhouse features. Think storefronts, parking lots, and displays that stand out like the sound of an ice cream truck on a summer day.

Start with what people see first:

• Storefront: Use clear glass to showcase colorful displays and vibrant plants. Add a bold, arched entryway and a decorative kneewalls to create visual interest.
• Parking lot: Make it easy to access and navigate. A frustrating parking experience can drive customers away.
• Entrances/Overhangs: Add decorative appeal while establishing where to enter the Garden Center. They also provide weather protection for loading plants.
• Clear-view end trusses: Allow for unobstructed views if you have glass end walls. They hide the webbing and match the framing up with where the glass bars. Just be aware they add engineering and fabrication time to your project.

When you invest in what customers see first at your retail garden center, you invest in foot traffic and sales.

Maximize Space

People shop longer when they feel comfortable. Wide aisles, clear signage, and spacious layouts make a big difference.

A well-designed layout doesn’t crowd out walkways with plants and displays. Placing columns/posts as far apart as safely possible gives you more options when designing your store layout.

• Greenhouse width: Wider greenhouses offer more flexibility for arranging benches and displays, but they may need stronger materials such as heavier posts or reinforced purlins to handle snow loads in some regions.
• Height: Taller greenhouses regulate temperatures better thanks to more air volume acting as a buffer. Plus, you can lower framing/supports to accommodate hanging baskets. Just ensure that your taller structure can handle local wind loads.

Space-saving Solutions

• Widespan greenhouses: Offer an inviting atmosphere, free of the multiple posts that come with narrow greenhouses. They offer more options for product display and customer movement.
• Clearspan and Under-gutter trusses: Carry loads across greater distances to free up floor space.
• Retail-friendly x-bracing: Gives you more shoppable space for displays or customer walkways.
• Post-eliminator beams: Remove center columns for spans up to 20- to 36 -feet.

Balance Style With Function

Your retail greenhouse should look great and perform even better. Choose a greenhouse style that fits your business needs.

• A-frames: Attractive and versatile; easy to swap coverings as your needs change.
• Ground-to-grounds: Budget-friendly starters for beginners in permit-free locations   
• Open-roofs: Vents that open from gutter to gutter bring the outdoors inside for an open, airy feel. They work perfectly for cooling and can be cracked open for dehumidification in the winter—just wait for the snow to melt off your roof before opening the vents.
• Zephyrs: Unique roofline created with a vertical ridge-vent that prevents heat-build up, even under snowy conditions. High sidewalls for hanging baskets and tall displays. Swap coverings as your needs evolve.
• Gutter-connect: Ideal for larger businesses and easy expansion. Offer more room and greater efficiency than stand-alone houses.

Create Cool Zones

Cooling provides comfort for the plants and people in your retail greenhouse, but efficiency matters, too.

• Mechanical/forced ventilation: Effective—but can be noisy and more expensive to run. For savings, use it where it matters most to provide customer comfort, such as the checkout area. Rely on passive cooling elsewhere. 
  
  Ceiling fans are a great option for check out areas and other heavy sales areas in your Garden Center (the longer customers stay, the more they are likely to buy).
  
  
• EDDG Vents (a.k.a. exterior, drop-down, guillotine vents): Provide an unobstructed opening for natural airflow. Place them high enough on sidewall so blowing air doesn’t disturb customers or knock over plants and products. Remember—never place plant material in the movement path of a vertical vent.
• Atrium Roof Vents: Ideal for winter ventilation because they sit higher on the greenhouse peak. You can crack them open without fear of snow falling on your customers.
• Retractable or Fixed Shade curtains: Allow you to play “Mother Nature”. They can help you control the amount of sunlight/heat gain in areas of your Garden Center.
  
  Perfect for seating areas, shade plant sections, and checkout lines, shade curtains create a comfortable environment for plants and people alike. With a variety of shade options available, you can find the right fit for your specific needs.

Consider What You Are Covering

Different areas of your retail greenhouse need different coverings. Consider what will be under your covering:

• Plants: Some love full sun, others need shade.
• People:  Prefer shade in checkout lines.
• Products: Packaging may fade and look worn with exposure to sun

Also, consider your local climate when choosing a covering. A covering that works in hot, snow-free regions, for example, may not do its job or hold up in colder areas.  

Mix and match materials such as clear glass, opaque, or diffused coverings based on what works best for the various areas in your retail greenhouse. Your greenhouse designer can make appropriate recommendations.

Centralize Entryways and Exits

Keep store entrances and exits centered at the front of your retail greenhouse. This helps with traffic flow and makes it easier to monitor traffic and deter theft.

For smoother flow and customer convenience in your garden center:

• Separate entrances and exits: Reduces bottlenecks
• Extra-wide, automatic doors: Provide hands-free, easy access
• Staff-only entrances/exits: Better for moving plants and supplies
• Vestibules: Block cold drafts
• Covered Plant Pick-up Zone Outside: Eases congestion at checkout.

Choose Safe Flooring

Safety starts from the ground up. Flooring should be comfortable to walk on, easy to maintain, and help prevent accidents:

• Avoid rough concrete: It traps moisture and can lead to algae, creating slipping hazards
• Skip ultra-smooth surfaces: Reduces slip risks
• Proper slope: Ensures good drainage, but without runaway shopping carts
• Small, floor drainage holes: Keeps women’s heels and shopping cart wheels from getting stuck

Plan Your Retail Greenhouse with the Future in Mind

When designing your retail greenhouse, don’t just think about today—think about what you want your business to look like 10 to 15 years down the road.

Planning for the future keeps your space organized and seamless as you expand, instead of feeling like a patchwork of add-ons.

An experienced retail greenhouse designer can help you create a full layout that’s ready for the long haul and break it into phases so you can expand incrementally as your business expands. This approach keeps your costs manageable while setting your retail greenhouse business up for future success.

Ready to grow? Design it right, and your retail greenhouse can do more than protect plants—it’ll help build your business.

New build? Expansion? Whatever your need, our team designs and builds retail greenhouses that help attract customers and boost sales.

Let’s make it happen!