Garden Center Specialist

Garden Center Specialist

The Garden Center Specialist serves as the horticultural expert for the Garden Center, maintaining the health, appearance, and merchandising of all live goods while providing exceptional customer service. This role educates customers on plant, flower, lawn, and garden care and helps make Ace Hardware the community's trusted gardening resource.

Essential Responsibilities

• Maintain the health of all flowers, shrubs, trees, vegetables, herbs, and houseplants through watering, fertilizing, pruning, and pest management.
• Inspect incoming plant shipments and ensure quality merchandising.
• Identify plant diseases, insects, nutrient deficiencies, and environmental stress.
• Assist customers with plant selection and gardening advice.
• Recommend complementary products including fertilizers, soils, mulch, pest control, irrigation supplies, and tools.
• Create attractive seasonal displays and maintain pricing and signage.
• Train associates on basic plant care and customer service.
• Maintain a clean, safe, and organized Garden Center.
• Assist with inventory, loading, and other Garden Center operations.

Qualifications

• Extensive horticultural knowledge.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills.
• Ability to work outdoors and lift up to 50 pounds.
• 3+ years of horticulture, nursery, greenhouse, landscape, or retail garden experience preferred.
• Texas Garden Center Specialist certification or equivalent preferred.

Knowledge & Skills

• Plant identification
• Lawn care
• Soils and fertilizers
• Integrated Pest Management
• Merchandising
• Retail sales
• Customer education

Performance Expectations

• Healthy, attractive plant inventory.
• Exceptional customer satisfaction.
• Reduced plant shrink.
• Increased Garden Center sales through expert recommendations.
• Well-trained Garden Center associates.

Ace Hardware Promise

The Garden Center Specialist exemplifies Ace Hardware's commitment to being 'The Helpful Place' by combining expert plant care with knowledgeable, personalized customer service.