More Press

[+PSUPAUL]

Here is a story that was published in the April/May 2004 copy of Green Profit magazine. A trade publication for the plant, flower, and garden center industry.

 

 

Here is the text of the story

 

Put Your Garden Center on the Map

 

This Month’s idiosyncratic idea for drawing customers

 

Geocaching is a relatively new phenomenon. To play along, a growing number of adventurous souls have gotten GPS units (costs range from about $100 to $1,000), using them to come within feet of somewhat-buried treasure (and we’re throwing around the term “treasure” rather loosely).

 

Sites such as geocaching.com provide GPS coordinates to a list of caches in the area in which you’d like to search. (Our small town of Batavia yielded about 80 caches in the immediate area.) Punch in the coordinates given and follow the GPS unit’s instruction to what is typically a small Tupperware container or bucket, holding a variety of items left by the previous person. Such items might include maps, books, CDs, tickets, games, jewelry, beer coasters… (Clearly the pursuit is the prize.) Inside the container is a logbook in which treasure-hunters write down where they’re from, what they’ve taken and what they’re replacing that item with. Fairly often, items find their way across continents.

 

Some caches have been found under water, on mountains or in trees, although most are more easily accessible.

 

Join this quirky subculture and plant a cache on your property. It’s offbeat and may not yield a sale, necessarily, but sometimes compelling people to visit your business is half the battle.

 

So, would this be a commercial cache? I was just surprised to see my friend hand me a copy of the story.

[+southdeltan]

Hrm.. sounds like a "commercial cache" to me...

 

I wonder if the writer of the article was aware of those rules. I also wonder what the "Official" Groundspeak stance on "Garden Center Caches" is...

 

southdeltan

[+protocoldroid]

i think it's a cool idea.

 

i've been thinking of asking my father if I can put one on his business property... he's got acres and acres of land that he doesn't use, and are pretty beautiful (it's in NH) anyhow... I wasn't thinking it'd really draw any business... his business actually doesn't really have anything to do with actual foot traffic to his physical location (he's a sign craftsman, and does most-to-all of his business out of state).

 

Anyways... heck, I like garden centers, and I like geocaching, there's no reason I wouldn't seek a cache in one. Dropping a buck there is at your own discretion, and even the article says it's a hit-or-miss.

[+PSUPAUL]

Does anyone know a Matt Miller in the Batavia IL area?

[CoyoteRed]

Who is to know where it is unless it's promoted in the cache description. I see it no different than a cache in the parking lot of Wal-mart.

[+New England n00b]

Simply being on commercial land isn't necesarily a commercial cache site - but I dunno. You open the door to the garden center and soon you'll be plucking micro's from Bob's Never-Abused Pre-owned Car lot, with a plaid jacketed salesman trying to sell you a Yugo as a rare collectors item. No thanks, personally.

 

I can't see the cache protocoldroid contemplating being a commercial one, though, even if on commercial property - it is not a retail operation....

 

Just me 2 cents

[+PSUPAUL]

Who is to know where it is unless it's promoted in the cache description.  I see it no different than a cache in the parking lot of Wal-mart.

I think it is slightly different if it is placed by the garden center owner and is hidden among the plants versus joe cacher just chosing to place a micro in Wal-Marts parking lot. Now if Sam Walton (I know, he is dead) placed one inside all of his stores. Wow, think of the caching opportunities!

 

Still, if done correctly on a large garden center location I am not necessarily against it.

Edited April 23, 2004 by PSUPAUL

[+Lolita]

I was actually thinking of placing a cache at a garden center in my town. The owners are really nice folks, let you shop with your dog, have about 5 acres of nursery, and this time of year my paycheck direct deposits into their bank ( or it might as well). I'm there at least once a week all year. They don't need anymore business but they have a pretty place that would be fun for a cache. I think it would be ok. No one ever feels like they have to buy anything there, and as long as they gave permission, the approver could verify it, and the business hours are posted on the cache page, wouldn't it be ok ?

[+PSUPAUL]

I was actually thinking of placing a cache at a garden center in my town. The owners are really nice folks, let you shop with your dog, have about 5 acres of nursery, and this time of year my paycheck direct deposits into their bank ( or it might as well). I'm there at least once a week all year. They don't need anymore business but they have a pretty place that would be fun for a cache. I think it would be ok. No one ever feels like they have to buy anything there, and as long as they gave permission, the approver could verify it, and the business hours are posted on the cache page, wouldn't it be ok ?

Fine by me! But my opinion counts for nada.

[+hikemeister]

I'm thinking of opening up a new brew pub called "Geocacher's Ale House,' and placing a really nice cache there. However, to get the real coordinates you have to buy at least two pints of beer. Would that be a commercial cache?

 

[ANM103FH]

Hrm.. sounds like a "commercial cache" to me...

 

I wonder if the writer of the article was aware of those rules. I also wonder what the "Official" Groundspeak stance on "Garden Center Caches" is...

 

southdeltan

I wonder if the writer is aware of the "bush-whacking" that occurs when people are searching for a cache.

 

"Its all fun n' games until someone tries to profiteer off of it."

 

-Frank

[+bigredmed]

The Lauritzen Gardens geocache in Omaha is on the grounds of our botanical gardem and is not commercial. Thus far, it has been frequently visited and well liked by both the garden and the cachers.

 

I would hate to see geocaches plunked into the middle of a mall or any business (er, wait a minute, a lot of micros are in malls, hmmm?)

 

This story is just a sign of how big the sport has become. I stopped by the Sarpy county tourism office to pick up some Nebraska items, and the women there had been to a meeting in which geocaching had been brought up as an example of how to boost rural tourism by fostering caches in the area, thus getting people who have the time and money to go geocaching to stop in your area. Needless to say, they were pretty pumped when I mentioned the 6 caches within 10 miles of their office.

[+Stunod]

Does anyone know a Matt Miller in the Batavia IL area?

Are you assuming the Batavia mentioned is the one in Illinois? I didn't see the state referred to anywhere.

[+PSUPAUL]

Does anyone know a Matt Miller in the Batavia IL area?

Are you assuming the Batavia mentioned is the one in Illinois? I didn't see the state referred to anywhere.

The magazine's office is in Batavia Il according to its masthead. But that doesn't really mean that the photographer is based at the main office. I was just taking a guess. How about this, does anyone know a Matt Miller that caches anywhere?

Edited April 23, 2004 by PSUPAUL

[+crzycrzy]

As for me, if I go to a cache site and it is apparently a ploy to lure geo-cachers, I am awfully "tempted" to muggle it, and then log it as a needs to be archived.

Not that I ever would actually DO something like that... Just tempted of course.

[+PSUPAUL]

As for me, if I go to a cache site and it is apparently a ploy to lure geo-cachers, I am awfully "tempted" to muggle it, and then log it as a needs to be archived.

Not that I ever would actually DO something like that... Just tempted of course.

I guess it depends on how it is positioned in my eyes. If it is a blatant play to get me there and sell me something I would agree. But if a cacher happened to place a cache on the grounds aof a large garden center where people can just walk around and look at different displays, such as flower beds and water gardens instead of just rows of plants in containers then I would probably like it.

Edited April 23, 2004 by PSUPAUL

[+Stunod]

The magazine's office is in Batavia Il according to its masthead. But that doesn't really mean that the photographer is based at the main office. I was just taking a guess. How about this, does anyone know a Matt Miller that caches anywhere?

I was born & raised in Batavia, and I still live in the area. I'm not familiar with anybody by that name, though.

[+Renegade Knight]

It's only commercial if they charge a fee for access. If it's non profit and charges a fee then it's not commercial either.

 

Thats the way GC ball bounces.

[+Nazgul]

If the purpose of the cache is marketing, to draw potential customers to a store, that sounds like a commercial cache to me. A Spam Cache, to put it another way. If I go in search of a geocache the last thing I want is to be lured up to a counter of some store where the cache is stored so that a salesman can try to sell me something. Blech!

 

If a cache is in a commercial location like a store but it's purpose isn't to draw customers per se, then I wouldn't mind. "Travel Bug Coffee Break" certainly draws business but I don't think it was placed there expressly for that purpose.

 

I've considered placing a cache in a retail store as a way to promote geocaching, but that's the opposite of what that article is suggesting.

[uperdooper]

I'm thinking of opening up a new brew pub called "Geocacher's Ale House,' and placing a really nice cache there. However, to get the real coordinates you have to buy at least two pints of beer. Would that be a commercial cache?

 

not everyone drinks alcohol.