Connecting People & Ideas for Profitability

While the advice of a consultant is great, many of the most compelling educational opportunities come from connecting in person with fellow retailers. Ian facilitates a number of programs designed to connect retailers with each other – to tour ‘behind the scenes’ on site at operations, to come together to share and compare numbers in a structured way.

Tours


With more than 28 US states and 6 countries under their belt, Ian & Lisa Baldwin have spent more than 20 years touring some of the best garden & hardware retailers in the world. From 1993-2008 they hosted an annual pilgrimage to the GLEE Show in the UK, taking hundreds of US Retailers overseas to be inspired by innovations in garden and home retail in Britain. Too many tours are “the blind leading the blind” – Ian’s speciality is putting context around the practices you’re seeing. Get in touch to schedule a personalized tour – or check back to take part in upcoming organized tours.

Peer Groups

Taking sharing to the next level, Ian facilitates a number of continual confidential peer groups (called “GAP Groups”) of like-minded retailers. These groups meet twice annually in person (and on monthly calls) for the purposes of benchmarking financial performance, sharing challenges and solutions, and building a supportive community. Groups are typically 10-15 companies in size and feature no direct competitors. If you’re interested in beginning a new peer group of your own, or joining an existing peer group – get in touch!