Glee is innovating in the face of increased competition from 2010's planned Garden Expo event and the outdoor leisure exhibition Solex. But the 20-22 September show, held at Birmingham NEC and aimed at garden retailers, remains the central exhibition of the year. Taylors Bulbs marketing manager Adam Taylor says: "Glee is our main trade event of the year. Bulbs are in garden centres and people want to talk about them.

"Glee is as important as ever to us. It's the one event [where] we really do have a presence. At other times bulbs are out of season or buyers are concentrating on other things. Glee is a great opportunity to catch up with our buyers and garden centres. We go as much to find out what is going on, so it's an important show. Long live Glee."

An innovation this year includes garden designer David Everitt showing garden centres how to put together merchandised demonstration gardens so that centres can sell more products.

The designer of Garden Themes, billed as "a set of inspirational and innovative retail showcases", says: "People don't know which materials go where in gardens. Customers have an idea of what they want but don't know how to put it together. The idea is to add on sales at garden centres."

Everitt will be bringing to life the series of creative retail merchandising concepts based on key consumer trends for 2010 and beyond, focusing on consumer trends and demographics.

His five design concepts will be: children's garden; sustainable garden; vegetable garden; best-value garden; and water garden. Each design will include tools, landscape material, plants, planters and garden accessories donated by Glee exhibitors.

Everitt says: "The Garden Themes feature will certainly add extra value for both exhibitors and retailers.

"My main aim will be to provide retailers with ideas for delivering a better retail experience and inspiration that consumers can take home and re-create within their own gardens."

Everitt has designed at Chelsea, BBC Gardeners' World Live and Hampton Court. Recently he has been designing traditional private gardens and helping students from Pershore College — where he set up the landscape department 27 years ago — design show gardens. He has built stands at Glee for 18 years.

Everitt is also the founder of landscape design company Leisurescapes UK, which has created stunning gardens for clients including Webbs Garden Centres, the National Trust, the RHS, Lord Walker and P&O Cruises. He built his most recent Webbs gardens in January.

Glee show director Daniel Thurlow says: "It has never been more important for retailers to look at the bigger picture, which is why the new Garden Themes section will be an unmissable tool for anyone wanting to stay ahead of the game. It's not enough to simply stack different product groups separately. Instead, consumers are looking to buy into a whole lifestyle package that they can re-create within their own gardens."

This year's show will feature various attractions and zones to attract visitors:

• Glee has created a trail to highlight British nursery producers. Backed by the HTA and Horticulture Week, the British Grown Trail is designed to lead both UK and international buyers to the best of British at Glee Nursery. The trail will be available online before the show, so visitors can plan their route; prominent logos will mark out British nursery exhibitors at the show itself.
• The dedicated grow-your-own zone will include visual case studies about garden centres that have successfully transformed their grow-your-own departments, and inspirational visual merchandising examples and promotional ideas. There will also be a number of live demonstrations, where The Garden Works team will show retailers how to explain simple grow-your-own projects to customers.
• International garden retail consultant John Stanley is set to launch a marketing approach for the new garden centre customer at Glee 2009. In two seminar sessions, on 20 September and 21 September, Stanley will talk retailers through some strategies to turn younger, emerging garden centre consumer groups into confident gardeners by creating simple and achievable projects.
• The Innovators Zone is a new area at Glee dedicated to the entrepreneurs and start-up companies taking their first steps into the sector. Two areas, one for garden and one for pets and aquatics, will champion innovation at the grass-roots level and showcase new products that are guaranteed to cause a stir in the garden and pet industries.
• Two international delegations are set to visit Glee this year. The International Garden Centre Association Congress, which takes place in the North West of England, will visit Glee on 20-21 September. Meanwhile, the International Hardware Association Centenary Congress, which is organised by the British Hardware Federation, will visit the show on 21 September.

Returning to Glee

Popular aspects of the show set to return this year include:

• The Glee New Products areas and Glee's New Product awards.
• The Going Green, Creative Britain, Trade Trail and Glee Export buying trails provide a guided tour of the show, with prominent signage.
• The Hothouse will host a series of seminars by industry experts including John Stanley, the HTA and The Garden Works team. Talks will tackle challenges posed by emerging types of consumers, grow-your-own merchandising, plant masterclasses and marketing and promotional ideas.
• The HTA and the Association of Progessional Landscapers will host a members' lounge in Hall 5 along with the invitation-only Seasons Club Lounge and the International Buyers' Centre, where international visitors can seek guidance from garden export federation Gardenex and representatives from UK Trade & Investment. In the Pet Buyers' Lounge, located in Hall 3, the Pet Care Trust will be on hand to answer questions.

Key names confirmed for this year's show so far include: Bonnington Plastics, Bosmere Products, Burgon & Ball, Bradstone, Cuprinol, Draper Tools, Everbuild Building Products, Forest, Fiskars, Group 55, Haddonstone, Haxnicks, Mr Fothergill's Seeds, Nutscene, Scotts, Taylors Bulbs, Town & Country and Westland/Unwins.

In addition to the regular exhibitor zones, Glee has initiated a six-point "customer value" programme:

• Free marketing campaigns and tools to achieve optimum marketing return on investment for exhibitors.
• Introduction of an exhibition stand design partnership to reduce stand costs.
• A "meet the buyer" programme to increase customer leads and sales.
• An SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) support programme including a new Innovators Zone scheme with special introductory pricing.
• A cost-cutting travel and accommodation partnership.
• An international buyers' initiative to fly in overseas retail and wholesale buyers from key target markets.

Innovators Zone

The new Innovators Zone will make it possible for entrepreneurs to showcase their garden- and pet-related inventions to prospective contacts at the relatively low cost of £500.

Entrepreneurs will receive a ready-to-use 4sq m shell-scheme booth, a high-profile location within the show, plus ongoing support from Glee's marketing and PR teams in the lead up to and during the exhibition.

Thurlow says: "Our aim is to benefit both the entrepreneurs taking part and decision-makers from across the industry who are looking for new commercial opportunities. Perhaps an inventor has something they have put together in their shed, or they've got a great new idea but they don't know how to get it to market or get it exposed. Glee's Innovators Zone could provide the stepping stone into the industry that they have been looking for."

Participants in the Innovators Zone include:

• Higrow A family-run business based in Yorkshire, Higrow specialises in growing products for small spaces such as balconies, patios and yards.
• Pebblecubes Essentially wire-mesh cubes filled with pebbles, Welsh slate or glass nuggets, Pebblecubes can house anything from a tealight to a huge flowerpot. Pebblecubes are promoted as real sculptural art forms for the garden.
• GardenGirl This is a stylish range of ladies' gardening clothing. Designed specifically for women, the clothing combines functionality with design and durability for a better gardening experience.

Pet and aquatic products will be located in Petindex (Hall 3) and garden-related products will be in Hall 5.

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