Garden Center magazine announces dates for 2025 Garden Center Conference & Expo

VALLEY VIEW, OHIO — (Dec. 19, 2024) — Garden Center magazine, the leading trade publication serving independent garden center retailers in North America, has announced dates for the 2025 Garden Center Conference & Expo.

The sixth edition of the industry-wide event will take place Aug. 5-7, 2025, at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

The three-day experience will kick off with an immersive garden center tour followed by two days of education sessions and roundtable discussions designed specifically for independent garden center executives as well as department heads and team leaders. Additionally, attendees will enjoy ample networking time as well as access to an exhibit hall featuring the newest products and latest technologies from industry suppliers devoted to retailers’ success.

“The Garden Center Conference & Expo fills a void in the industry for an event that brings together top retail professionals for both high-level education and access to the latest products on the market. It also offers IGCs the opportunity to collaborate and network with their peers who are facing the same issues within their own operations,” says Michelle Simakis, publisher of the GIE Media Horticulture Group, the parent company of Garden Center. “This is the must-attend garden center event of 2025.”

The in-depth education program is being developed by the Garden Center editorial team. Each session will be led by a speaker or moderator who understands the challenges and opportunities unique to the retail industry. Garden center leaders will share strategies that have contributed to their success and actionable ideas that attendees will be able to implement at their own businesses.

In addition, retail experts from other industries will share lessons that can be applied to the garden center industry, such as Stephanie Stuckey, chair of Stuckey’s, a company with roots as a roadside convenience store and traveler destination that she helped revitalize.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this year’s keynote speaker, Stephanie Stuckey,” says editor Patrick Alan Coleman. “Her story about rescuing her grandfather’s storied consumer brand will resonate for our attendees who are always working to keep their own brands fresh across multiple generations of owners."  

Registration is open now. Early bird registration rates are $149 for a conference and expo pass and $69 for an expo-only pass and are available until April 17, 2025. Exhibitor space and sponsorship opportunities for the event are available on a first come, first served basis. Review our Exhibitor Prospectus here and contact sales to secure your space early.

More information, including speakers, sessions and tour locations, will be announced in the coming months and will also be available at gardencenterconference.com.

About Garden Center: Garden Center magazine is the leading industry trade publication serving independent garden center retailers in North America. Garden Center, a digital-only publication, is known for providing relevant, timely and engaging content, with a focus on management, marketing, trends and merchandising. With a suite of services — including digital coverage, news updates and e-newsletters — Garden Center provides business owners with research, insight and analysis to help them grow their companies.

About GIE Media, Inc.: Garden Center is owned by GIE Media, based in Valley View, Ohio. GIE Media was founded in 1980 and has grown over 40-plus years into a leading marketing and communications business-to-business media company serving 16 industries — including the horticulture industry through its Horticulture Group (Greenhouse Management, Produce Grower, Nursery Management and Garden Center). The company goal of Group Interest Enterprises is to publish the highest-quality business magazines, websites, e-newsletters, conferences, reference books and other forms of business media in growth industries, with a quality standard based upon editorial value and market leadership. The company employs more than 100 editors, publishers, sales representatives, marketers and other professionals. To learn more, visit giemedia.com.

Photos from the 2023 Garden Center Conference & Expo in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

Contact:

Irene Sweeney                                              

216-393-0289

isweeney@gie.net

###