Lawn Greetings going strong in tough economic times.

We have all heard on the news how bad the economy is and maybe even some of you have been affected by it but there are some industries that are still enjoying growth. One of those is the Lawn Greeting industry. The Lawn Greetings industry is defined as small businesses which help their customers celebrate various occasions and events by renting displays that are set up in a recipient’s yard. The displays vary greatly from giant wooden character signs and small "critter" signs, as they are referred to in the industry, to a wide array of elements for decorating a front yard such as 3D plastic or 2D wood and coroplast characters/shapes that include from the most popular, plastic pink flamingos, to the more obscure, plastic cows or over the hill themes, to the more traditional, stork signs for announcing births.

A recent discussion on the Lawn Greeting Association forums shows that the industry is still growing despite the economic downturn. Seven of the eight companies that commented on the discussion said that they were pleased with the number of deliveries they were doing. Tom of Special-Delivery 4 U in Muskego, Wisconsin mentioned seeing a 25% growth in sales for May compared to May 2008 with an additional 20% in June 2009. Janice of Front Yard Friends in Chesapeake, Virgina said "We had 30 yards in one night plus all of the pick ups from the night before ( 22). I honestly don't remember doing that many before but maybe we did." Cindi from Coastal Yard Cards in Sussex County, Delaware reports a 50% increase in sales for the month of June 2009 compared to last year at the same time. She thinks a new improved website helped with sales traffic. "A good web presence and search engine results are a key factor to getting your business out to the public". Cindi also says that while it is difficult in her area to spread the word about Lawn Greetings due to being the only business of it's kind in more than half of the state, she thinks once people actually see what Coastal Yard Cards offers, they absolutely love it and want to order a rental for their next occasion !

Not only is the industry seeing record sales, there are new companies starting up. Cheryl of Monkey In My Pocket Designs Yard Celebrations in Dutchess County, New York said "I have only been open for about a month so I don't have any of last year's figures to compare but I rented out 26 displays for May and I already have 32 orders for the month of June."

Even companies that specialize in birth announcements are doing well according to Amy of Special Deliveries in Pleasanton, California. She says "I am busier than I have ever been before. I don't have numbers, but for the last couple of months I have been doing 2-3 rentals a week (all mine are 1 week rentals)."

There are a little more than 840,000 people celebrating a birthday everyday of the year in the United States. In addition to that there are anniversaries, engagements, weddings, births & graduations throughout the year. Each one of those special occasions is a chance for a Lawn Greeting company to rent a display. It's really no wonder why the Lawn Greeting industry is still going strong and even growing in these tough economic times.

Flamingonapping Foiled!

On Friday July 3rd, our flamingo flock flew out to Pretty Lake in Dousman, Wisconsin to surprise a birthday girl. Since fifty of them went they created quite a scene and had many people stopping by to take pictures and to just adore them in general. According to the customer the lake was packed with visitors and party-goers since it was the Fourth of July. Here is what happened in his words.

"My son and daughter (both college students) had friends over and they camped out in the yard in tents.

On Saturday night, the kids discovered 4 flamingos behind the neighbor's garage -- kidnapped by some of the teenage party-goers next door. They were immediately rescued and returned to the flock. Thinking that all was well, my daughter was keeping a keen eye out not too far from the flock. At about 12:30AM, two middle aged women drove by on a four wheeler and stopped in front of our lot. They sat there for a while in the dark while my daughter crouched behind a car parked near our cottage. One of the women began slowing crawling (army style) from the edge of our our property towards the flock. My daughter popped up and yelled "you better not be thinking about stealing a flamingo!" The two women were startled, laughed a bit and sped off on the four wheeler."

Now that is keeping an eye on the flock. Fortunately there were no more attempts of flaminonapping and the flock returned home safely!