If anyone knows roses, it’s Tagawa Gardens.Now entering our 30th year in business located just outside Denver in Centennial, Colo., Tagawa Gardens has a long history of growing long stem roses for the Valentine’s Day and Mothers’ Day holidays. We have built on that expertise to provide a wide selection of greenhouse-grown garden roses to our customers.
Only Low Supplies Held Back 2011 Sales
After a nice gain in 2010 (when we had some extra growing space), rose sales were down this past year. We were unable to secure the extra space in 2011 and could not find enough of the right roses at the right time. Consequently, our sales decreased.
Roses need to be in bloom to sell well. It’s crucial to find enough finished plants or grow the right roses – in bud and bloom and/or hybrid teas all translate to impulse sales – after the spring rush to carry sales through the summer.
Roses are a shooting star in our store. They sell really well (they account for 3 percent of our overall sales) but only for a short period of time, so they need to bring in more revenue to earn their keep. We anticipated the loss in 2011 and made changes in other categories to absorb it.
Finding enough of what is selling in a particular year, after our initial stock is sold out, is a challenge, but we will strive to repeat our 2010 success this year..
Rose Sourcing Secrets
This past year, Tagawa Gardens had a challenge replacing a major supplier of bareroot roses. We grow about half of the roses we sell; the rest we bring in finished from other growers. We don’t like to put all of our eggs in one basket, so we are always looking for new and different sources.
Our POS system is a great tool for projecting what varieties to grow.We can easily bring up data to see what sold best the previous year. That, combined with visual inspection and memory of what is left on the benches, as well as watching what is new and determining if it will do well in our climate, provides our growing list.
One of our customers is growing and it caught the attention of the local press.
The Grand Valley serves as a hot spot for wine growing grapes, giving Talon the perfect product to create their high quality wine.
"There’s a lot of equipment involved. We have a destemmer that we use, and that actually separates the grapes from the stems,” says Foster.
From there, the grapes head in to a press or tank, depending if they're white or red, then they allow the grapes to age properly.
"It could be bottled within three months or so, maybe four months. Or it could be a year and a half or two years,” he says.
Bottled and ready to enjoy, Talon continues to say “cheers” to what sets them apart from the competition.
"All the wineries in the valley share quite a bit you know, production wise, but I think what sets us apart is the love we put in to these wines. We love all these wines, and they're like our kids,” says Stevens.”
As a thank you to their customers for four years of support, Talon Wines is currently offering a Valentine’s Day special. During the entire month of February, if you purchase three bottles of wine, you’ll receive a free half pound of their homemade chocolate fudge. Foster owns Colorado Fudge Factory, which makes 20 to 30 different varieties of homemade fudge.
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