Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609
gficke@msn.com

Geoff Ficke to Be Interviewed on KVLE 610 AM The Business For Breakfast Show on May 8 at 8:30 MT

Duquesa Marketing Founder and Expert to Discuss Personality Traits to Success as well as The Best Jobs for Your Future – Creating Your Own

Florence, KY  Nancy Ficke, General Manager, announced today that her Branding and Product Development firm Duquesa Marketing has scheduled another in a series of national radio interviews for Company President and Founder Geoff Ficke in the Vail, CO market.

“Geoff Ficke will appear on The Business For Breakfast Show with Hosts Marc Mandel, Harriet Fox and Roger Cridlebaugh May 8th at 8:30 am MT”, said Mrs Ficke. “The discussion will be about the best jobs for your future – creating your own. There are opportunitities to take hold of your life and career options by exploring Entrepreneurial opportunities that people find around themselves in their hobbies, homes or jobs”.  They will also be discussing certain personality traits within each person that will determine their success.

“We work with hundreds of inventors, small and micro-businesses and entrepreneurs every year”, said Alexis Bruning, V.P. of New Business Development at Duquesa Marketing. “Many of these people carve out successful enterprises by capitalizing on things they experience in their environment. This is a topic that Geoff is passionate about and is always happy to share with an audience”.

Duquesa Marketing has assisted numerous individuals and enterprises start and expand Consumer Product opportunities over the past four decades. The award winning firm has vast experience in all Sales and distribution channels in the United States and internationally.

Duquesa Marketing

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609
gficke@msn.com

Geoff Ficke to Be Interviewed on KRCN 1060 AM The Business For Breakfast Show on May 8 at 8:30 MT

Duquesa Marketing Founder and Expert to Discuss Personality Traits to Success as well as The Best Jobs for Your Future – Creating Your Own

Florence, KY  Nancy Ficke, General Manager, announced today that her Branding and Product Development firm Duquesa Marketing has scheduled another in a series of national radio interviews for Company President and Founder Geoff Ficke in the Denver, Ft. Collins and Cheyenne, WY markets.

“Geoff Ficke will appear on The Business For Breakfast Show with Hosts Marc Mandel, Harriet Fox and Roger Cridlebaugh May 8th at 8:30 am MT”, said Mrs Ficke. “The discussion will be about the best jobs for your future – creating your own. There are opportunitities to take hold of your life and career options by exploring Entrepreneurial opportunities that people find around themselves in their hobbies, homes or jobs”.  There are also certain personality traits within each person that will determine their success.

“We work with hundreds of inventors, small and micro-businesses and entrepreneurs every year”, said Alexis Bruning, V.P. of New Business Development at Duquesa Marketing. “Many of these people carve out successful enterprises by capitalizing on things they experience in their environment. This is a topic that Geoff is passionate about and is always happy to share with an audience”.

Duquesa Marketing has assisted numerous individuals and enterprises start and expand Consumer Product opportunities over the past four decades. The award winning firm has vast experience in all Sales and distribution channels in the United States and internationally.

by: Geoff Ficke

A “Wanna Be” Entrepreneur in Reality Is a “Wantrepreneur” and Will Never Be Successful

Very few of the hundreds of Consumer Product projects that my Branding and Marketing Consulting firm review each year ever go much beyond the talking stage. Talk is cheap. Deamers dream. Successful entrepreneurs are relatively rare. The necessary makeup to compete in the marketplace of ideas and products is in fairly short supply.

The best descriptive I can use to describe the dreamer that will never launch is the portmanteau “wantrepreneur”. This is the word we use to define the eternal grazer. They hope, wish and want to be successful but will not take the absolutely necessary steps required to get into the game. This pseudo-entrepreneur wants a lot of things, variously including…

• Wants a Business Plan
• Wants Design Engineering
• Wants Prototyping
• Wants Branding Development
• Wants Legal Counsel
• Wants Patents and Trademarks
• Wants Marketing Strategy Customized
• Wants Market Research
• Wants Focus Groups
• Wants Licensing Opportunities
• Wants Web-site Design
• Wants Social Media Management
• Wants Sales Representation
• Wants a Public Relations Campaign
• Wants Manufacturing Organized
• Wants Fulfillment Systems Organized
• Wants Investment, Funding
• Want all of this and often much more!

The reality is that the aspiring entrepreneur has two options available to achieve the above work elements that are but a partial list of the items that must be present in order to achieve a Consumer Product or Consumer Service launch.

1.   Hire vendors that can successfully perform in their area of specialization.

2.   Do it yourself.

I started my first business in 1978. I did it myself. I was a self-taught entrepreneur who, once having figured things out, realized that I could repeat the process again and again. I did this for a series of ventures that I launched. It can be done. I and many others are proof that with enough drive, ambition and confidence in themselves and their ideas success is a real option. Option #2 is not a chimera but it is not easy.

Option #1 is the route that most prospective entrepreneurs are forced to take. The skills that must be mastered can seem daunting to a novice. The list is long, much longer than detailed above. Successful entrepreneurs always find the means to raise the monies needed to hire professional help in areas that they do not have mastery of.

“Wantrapreneur’s” always attempt to acquire talent and expertise with promises, futures, equity and histrionics. The approach they take always follows an obvious lineup of talking points. Their Toy or Board Game is the next Monopoly or Bratz Doll. Their Wellness Supplement will revolutionize the Joint Pain market. The Pet Product they have developed to comfort arthritic dogs will sell hundreds of thousands of units. The Juvenile Jewelry line they have conceptualized will be on every little girl’s wish list. The list goes on endlessly.

The “wantrapreneur” always wants vendors to partner. I always ask what a person does for work. When I am told, “Salesman, truck driver, insurance adjuster, bank analyst”, etc., I respond with another simple question: “Do you work for free”? Qualified engineers and graphic artists and consultants are paid for their work, their experience, their Rolodex. Proven professionals actually save entrepreneurs time, money and mistakes.

How an aspiring entrepreneur approached funding sources and professional vendors is crucial. We rarely see this introductory process handled properly by novice entrepreneurs.  Do your due diligence. Do not attempt to sell dreams. My dreams are almost certainly not your dreams.

The process of starting a business or launching a Consumer Product is arduous. There is a reason for this. If it was easy everyone would be doing it and they are most certainly not. The difficulties inherent in getting a product off the ground act to cull the marketplace and serves as a type of Merchandising Darwinism. Merchants, distributors, investors, venture capital, strategic alliances and partners all seek out projects that survive the development process and are representative of the old saw “survival of the fittest”. “Wantrepreneurs” do not need apply.

by: Geoff Ficke

The 5 Absolutely Essential Personal Traits Needed to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

I am often asked by media interviewers, prospective entrepreneurs and college students I mentor to identify the most important qualities that are present in successful small business start-up owners and innovators. Obviously there are many personality traits that contribute to success in every sort of endeavor. Honesty, hard work, creativity and a positive mental attitude are only a few. However, I think that there are five traits that are essential keys to achieving entrepreneurial success. These are present in every successful entrepreneur I have ever worked with.

Passion

High achieving entrepreneurs have an unrestrained passion for their business or concept. This is not to be confused with cheerleading or hype. Their passion is born of a confidence that their project will help and provide real benefits to people, clients and customers. Of course, they hope to prosper financially from their work, but they really and truly are passionate that they can make a difference. The passion that Emeril Legasse exudes when he speaks about Food and Cooking, or that displayed by Tory Burch when she describes her Fashion Designs are obvious examples.

Drive

Successful entrepreneurs will not be stopped. They quickly come to understand that they will consistently hear the word “no”. To these driven people “no” simply means not today. They are driven to succeed and always find a way to overcome the “no” obstacles that the marketplace places in their path. Vidal Sassoon, born to poverty in East London, created one of the world’s great Beauty and Cosmetic empires through his sheer drive. Famous Amos overcame huge personal obstacles before he pioneered the creation and commercialize of the designer Cookie category.

Focus

By their very nature entrepreneurs are creative. This creativity, however, often results in lack of focus. Ideas seem to come in waves. The project at hand is undone by a bigger, grander idea, then another. Successful entrepreneurs are solely and totally focused on their Business Plan, executing their strategy and getting to market with a first mover advantage in hand.

Bernie Marcus, Ken Langone and Arthur Blank launched the Home Depot with a single store in Atlanta. They overcame numerous hurdles to perfect the DIY concept that is ubiquitous today by staying focused on the perfection of their business model in one location before they considered expansion. Levi Strauss built his eponymous denim work and Sportswear business from a base that was focused on the mine workers that were pouring into the California Gold Rush country in the mid-18^th century.

Discipline

The ability to discipline ones emotional urges and stick with the plan when things seem bleakest is so important. The discipline to work though problems that seem too vexing is something that many people lack. Work ethic that demonstrates the ability to overcome problems is essential.

Thomas Edison famously conducted over 1000 experiments before perfecting the incandescent light bulb. Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds were aspiring young actors in the 1950’s in Hollywood. Both were fired by their studio on the same day and told they had no future in the movies. The same happened to a young singer named Elvis Presley at the Grand Ol’ Opry in 1954. None quit. They had the self-confidence and discipline to keep pushing until they achieved their goals.

Courage

To me, this is the Number 1, most essential, but also rare trait that successful entrepreneurs possess. I do not believe that courage can be taught. The courage to commit fully to a project is what separates commercially successful entrepreneurs from dreamers and failures. Fear of failure chokes courage. Fear of hearing “no” again and again smothers courage. Risk aversion today runs deep in contemporary society where security is prized above anything posing  uncertainty and has become the norm.

Successful entrepreneurs fall early and often, but have the unique ability to get up and go back into action. Helena Rubenstein built one of the earliest international Cosmetic empires though she grew up impoverished in 19^th century Poland. She scratched against huge odds and continually bet every asset she possessed on her products, and herself.

My Branding and Consumer Product Development Consulting firm is fortunate to have met hundreds of wonderful entrepreneurs. Unfortunately we have met many thousands more who expressed aspirations, but could not muster one or more of these five essential success traits. This is most disappointing because many of their products and concepts possessed excellent commercial appeal. Creating personal success, when starting with little or nothing, is never easy. If it was everybody would be doing it and they are not.

Duquesa Marketing

www.DuquesaMarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609
gficke@msn.com

Geoff Ficke to Be Interviewed on The Buzz on Z Talk Radio on April 16th at 8:30 CT

Duquesa Marketing Founder and Expert to Discuss Best Jobs for the Future – Create Your Own!

Florence, KY  Nancy Ficke, General Manager, announced today that her Branding and Product Development firm Duquesa Marketing has scheduled another in a series of national radio interviews for Company President and Founder Geoff Ficke.

“Geoff Ficke will appear on The Buzz with Hosts Scott Rorek and Zita Ost April 16th  at 8:30 am CT / 9:30 ET on Z Talk Radio (www.ztalkradio.com)”, said Mrs Ficke. “The discussion will be about the opportunity to take hold of your life and career options by exploring Entrepreneurial opportunities that people find around themselves in their hobbies, homes or jobs”.

“We work with hundreds of inventors, small and micro-businesses and entrepreneurs every year”, said Alexis Bruning, V.P. of New Business Development at Duquesa Marketing. “Many of these people carve out successful enterprises by capitalizing on things they experience in their environment. This is a topic that Geoff is passionate about and is always happy to share with an audience”.

Duquesa Marketing has assisted numerous individuals and enterprises start and expand Consumer Product opportunities over the past four decades. The award winning firm has vast experience in all Sales and distribution channels in the United States and internationally.

by: Geoff Ficke

Consumer Product Marketing Success Depends Much More on Being First and Executing than Simply Being First

Recently I had the opportunity to review a new beverage concept submitted for consideration by an entrepreneur. This young chap had collected reams of information, concrete data on his drink’s wellness benefits, packaging renderings and marketing trend information on the mass market soft drink category. His due diligence was impressive and seemed indicative of a driven, passionate innovator.

My staff came away from the meeting impressed on every level. We had spent several hours advising on the various options and strategies that could possibly be utilized to fully  commercialize the drink. The beverage was in concept form, so a turn-key product development menu of work elements needed to be detailed. The entrepreneur taped the meeting and took copious notes as we essentially provided him with an oral business model and a rudimentary business plan.

Before the initial meeting we had not seen or been appraised the content of the proposed beverages unique selling proposition. Once unveiled, we immediately searched the internet to discover competitors. We found only one direct competitor.

In a category as wide and deep as drinks, to find but one direct competitor in a space is unusual. The normal rule for seizing and commercializing a Unique Selling Proposition is that we look for an identifiable niche in a broad category. Even though the concept we were reviewing had an existing competitive brand, we could easily customize a strategy to potentially command this niche.

As we reviewed the competitive brand we had discovered, one thing became immediately apparent; the owner of the existing drink had gotten to market first, but had not executed any type of strategy that was leading to sales success. Our Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consulting firm uses a proprietary system to analyze the commercial
viability of concepts and small and micro-brands. When we applied these key measurements to the extant beverage brand we saw error after error in marketing execution working to the detriment of the product.

The information we had gathered convinced us that our prospective client had an excellent opportunity to seize the space if he executed a disciplined, customized Marketing and Branding strategy. Every year new waters, soft drink, energy, teas, coffees, juices and wellness drink brands are launched and find varying levels of success. Though the category would seem to be saturated, the actuality is that there are always new entrants and stores are always seeking the next new and fresh thing. The missing element for those that fail is always
the failure to properly execute.

This applies to every consumer product category in which we work. From Pet Products, to Cosmetics, to Jewelry, to Giftware, to Sporting Goods and many others, the market craves novel products that offer fresh features and benefits. The key to success in Marketing Consumer Products is to get to market as quickly as possible AND execute a strategy that supports the Business and Sales Model.

We see many entrepreneurs confuse the importance of being first (and it is important) with the more crucial goal of being first and executing on strategy. One without the other is like a beautiful sports car without access to fuel. Neither goes very far.

Duquesa Marketing, Inc.

www.duquesamarketing.com

Press Release

For Immediate Release

November 5, 2011

Contact:  Geoff Ficke

859-567-1609

Duquesa Marketing Appoints Defined by Design to Develop Graphic Art for Pedi-Flip Cosmetic Accessory 

Packaging, Display, Branding, Web-Site and Trade Show Visuals To Be Produced to Support International Product Launch in Spring-2012 

Florence, KY     Nancy Ficke, General Manager of International award winning Branding and Consumer Product Design and Development firm Duquesa Marketing announced today that her group has appointed Melbourne, FL based Defined by Design to create Graphic Art elements for the launch of Cosmetic Accessory Pedi-Flip. 

“As Managing Consultants for the Pedi-Flip project we reviewed a number of candidates to assist us in creating the visual Branding elements we will need to take the line to market”, said Mrs. Ficke. “We were most impressed by the vision Linda Walding and her firm Defined by Design brought to the project”. 

“Dr. Barbara von Mettenheim, founder of BvonM LLC and creator of Pedi-Flip has crafted a wonderful, simple, elegant solution to a problem that many women experience”, said Alexis Bruning, VP of New Business Development for Duquesa Marketing. “The Graphic Art element for this project is crucial to ultimate success and Defined by Design is proving to be a wise creative choice”. 

Duquesa Marketing will be announcing shortly an aggressive launch calendar for the Pedi-Flip line of Cosmetic Accessories. The Brand will be introduced in an international venue and will enjoy excellent sales promotional support. The Business Plan is for a Spring-2012 roll-out.

by: Geoff Ficke

How a Simple Box Concept Changed World Trade And Fostered the Rise of a 3^rd World Middle Class

For almost 4000 years the methodology used to ship finished goods, raw materials and minerals between distant points on the globe did not change. A transport ship pulled into a seaport. Shipping agents onshore organized transport and assigned cargo and bills of lading to specific crews. Stevedores and longshoremen physically hauled the full barrels and trunks containing trade goods aboard the vessels. With a ships hold completely full, the captain and crew began the long, dangerous trip to their destination port. 

This process had not significantly changed since the times of the ancient seafaring Carthaginians and Phoenicians. The advent of the 20^th century saw the introduction of mechanical lifts and winches which made the process a bit more efficient. However, shipping docks in ports all over the world were notorious for being ridden with corrupt customs officials and unions that made prompt haulage of goods an uncertain enterprise at best. 

This dawdling movement of freight made international commerce extremely expensive and slow. A poor, remote country that possessed a necessary raw material typically could not convert that material to finished, value added goods. The materials had to be shipped to more developed, fully industrialized nations where raw materials could be utilized in the manufacturing of desirable consumer goods and industrial products. Poor nations stayed poor. Rich nations got richer.

Today, in the early years of the 21^st century, there is a global explosion in trade between countries on every continent. New shipping ports are being built to accept huge mega-shipping vessels in newly affluent Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam and China. Materials, foodstuffs, finished goods and fuels are being transported in massive quantities. The Panama Canal is being widened to allow passage of ever-larger massive freight hauling ships. 

None of this could have occurred without the genius of an unsung American inventor. The redesign of a simple rectangular box that he engineered and pioneered changed the international movement of goods and accelerated the development of consumerism and the growth of a middle class in countries around the world.  

Keith Tantlinger died recently at the age of 92. Mr. Tantlinger was an industrial engineer and Inventor and was working in the shipping industry in the early 1950’s. He was frustrated with the bottlenecks that were a constant at west coast shipping terminals. He set out to do something about the problem. 

Keith Tantlinger designed the first intermodal shipping container. His invention of the corner casting system, Twist-lock system, spreader bar lift and the ship shore transfer apparatus laid the groundwork for the development of the modern universal shipping container. This simple enhancement of a steel shipping box enabled fully loaded containers to be stacked and handled mechanically with almost no manual labor.

The ability to catalog and move goods on such a massive scale enabled Product Marketers to provide consumers everywhere with the benefits of large scale production. For the first time one ship could safely haul a massive assortment of goods, everything from raw materials to Toys, to Sporting Goods, to Hardware Products, to Small Electric Appliances and so much more. 

Today container shipments are ubiquitous. An empty container can be found at a factory in Chicago or Lousiville. The container when loaded is placed on a rail car and shipped to a port for an international destination. At final destination the container is unloaded and the re-loaded with a new consignment of Mattresses or Sofas destined for Germany. Upon arrival in Hamburg, the Mattress or Furniture container is loaded onto a trailer and hauled by truck to a retail warehouse. 

The intermodal flexibility that Keith Tantlinger pioneered accelerated the growth of international trade. It has made the world a smaller and necessarily more co-operative place. Trade partners typically do not have significant reason to shoot at each other. Millions of formerly poverty stricken third world residents have found economic opportunity and benefitted greatly from global trade.

Keith Tantlinger worked in an area where he saw a problem. In typically 1950’s American style he rolled up his sleeves and committed to finding solutions. The development of the intermodal shipping container, capable of being utilized by rail, ship and truck anywhere on the planet was his contribution to the advance of enterprise and improving the human condition. Mr. Tantlinger will be remembered.

by: Geoff Ficke

How Did One of the Fashion World’s Earliest Great Innovators Lose Everything by Lack of Innovation

It is startling to study an empires crumble, decline and ultimately perishing on the ash heap of history. It happened to ancient states such as Egypt, Rome, Athens and Macedonia. The Knights Templar had been the world’s pre-eminent military and financial colossus in the Middle Ages but they are no more. In more modern times we have seen the commercial decline and disappearance of Horn & Hardart Restaurants, A&P Food Stores and numerous department store chains such as Jordan Marsh, John Wannamaker, Woodrow & Lothrop and Montgomery Wards. Major airlines and automobile companies were launched, soared and then failed.

The scale of these failed enterprises was often so great that it is hard for observers to get their hands around all that went wrong and caused these spectacular failures.  Recently I was reviewing a fashion treatise and read about a long ago innovative pioneer of Haute Couture who became an icon of his age before losing everything in one lifetime. The tale is cautionary. 

Paul Poiret was born into poverty in Paris in 1879. At an early age he was apprenticed to an Umbrella maker. The odd bits of fabric cuttings that were tossed as waste interested Poiret, and he began to take them from the trash. He used this detritus to fashion clothes for his sister’s dolls. Each dress was accompanied by a pattern that he drew and saved. 

While still a teenager Paul Poiret took his pattern drawings to Madeline Cheruit, one of the grand dames of Parisian fashion in the late 19^th century. She bought 12 of the drawings for reproduction in her atelier. Sensing opportunity, the young Poiret began to sell all of his patterns to the various Paris garment houses. In 1896 he was hired to design for the prominent Jacques Doucet. Poiret’s first creation for Doucet was a red cape which sold 400 pieces. 

Mr. Poiret established his own fashion house in 1903 and made an immediate impact with his unusual for the time “kimono coat”. The shop became famous for stunning window displays, fabulous parties tied to each seasons collections and Poiret’s pioneering use of modern Branding and Marketing techniques. The garments he produced were very expensive for the day and only the most discerning clientele purchased from the House of Poiret. 

Poiret expanded into Furniture, Household Décor and, most importantly Fragrance. He was a pioneer in Licensing his name. The entry of a fashion house into the Perfume business was also a first and would set a precedent that created one of the most successful Marketing Strategies and Sales Models still in wide use to this day. In 1911 Poiret’s Parfums de Rosine was launched and the world of Haute Couture and Perfumery would never be the same.

Parfums de Rosine was launched and publicized by throwing an extravagant Persian themed soiree at Paul Poiret’s palatial Parisian estate home. The news coverage of the event and the perfume that inspired the party is evocative of promotional techniques still used today to introduce Luxury Goods. 

Also in 1911, the photographer Edward Steichen collaborated with the House of Poiret to photograph a collection of gowns and accessories. The photos were published in various magazines. This is considered the first use of “Fashion Photography”. Prior to this fashion was illustrated when placed in print. 

Poiret’s most famous design contribution to garment production was a technique he created called “draping”. This was a radical departure from the more rigid Tailoring and Pattern Making methods used in the past. This style of sewing enabled Poiret to create loose, softer looks like Harem Pantaloons, Lampshade Tunics and Hobble Skirts. Most appreciated by women seeking comfort was Poiret’s elimination of the ubiquitous, restrictive, uncomfortable corset from his collections. 

During World War I Paul Poiret worked for the French military making uniforms. When the war ended, he returned to his fashion house and found it in ruins. He worked hard to resurrect his glory years. However, while he was away serving the war effort, other designers had emerged and they utilized more modern styling and garment construction techniques. Poiret’s designs had always been visually unique but were not well constructed. As he had once famously said he only aimed for his dresses to be “read beautifully from afar”. He continued to work in his old way. 

New designers, notably Coco Chanel, House of Worth and Elsa Schiaparrelli, had begun to offer simpler, sleeker silhouettes and their work employed far better construction than did Paul Poiret’s. As clients fled to the newer fashion houses Poiret suffered further loss of financial supporters and was forced to close his couture house in 1929. Poiret was bankrupted. Upon liquidating inventory the House of Poiret suffered the indignity of having leftover clothing sold by the kilogram for use as rags. 

Until his death in 1944 he lived as a pauper in the streets of Paris. His genius had been forgotten. Occasionally he would be seen by his contemporaries painting street scenes to eke out a few Francs before eyes would be diverted from the discomforting vision of a past hero of French Haute Couture being so dramatically reduced. 

Paul Poiret during his early career was attributed with being the fashion equivalent of Pablo Picasso in art. He introduced “modernism” to Haute Couture”. For a short time he lived as a potentate and enjoyed vast fame, fortune and popularity. Then it was all gone. What happened?

In the worlds of style, fashion and consumer products you are never the greatest, only the latest. The Companies and Brands that last and pass the test of time constantly evolve. The House of Poiret did not. Styles had changed, consumer tastes changed and the increased demand for better quality product required more attention to detail. Poiret still produced clothing with a “look” that screamed Poiret, but no longer excited the most exclusive, wealthiest clientele that had supported his House in the beginning. He did not evolve and grow. 

Ancient Rome stagnated and died of lechery. Juan Trippe built the greatest airline in the world, PanAm. After his passing PanAm went into a long, slow decline and is now permanently grounded. The grand Cosmetic Brands Frances Denny, Hazel Bishop and Germaine Monteil are no more. Bonwit Teller, once one of the world’s best specialty department stores, was liquidated years ago. These entities, like the House of Poiret, enjoyed their time in the sun but did not stay current, adjust to social or market realities and all disappeared.

by: Geoff Ficke

For Seven Generations a Unique Business Has Brought Happiness and Beauty to Millions Each Spring 

Newark, New York does not spring to mind as a base for horticultural genius. Not to be confused with tough, rough hewn Newark, New Jersey, this small farming area became the original home of one of the greatest horticultural enterprises in the world. From humble beginnings as a nursery servicing local gardeners Jackson & Perkins became the largest purveyor and developer of sub-species of roses in the United States. 

In the 1870’s Newark was the countrified mirror of cosmopolitan New York. Farms, vineyards and orchards dotted the countryside around the town. Here, in 1872 Charles Perkins, with the financial backing of his father-in-law A.E. Jackson started the now famous Jackson & Perkins greenhouses and nursery. This family business has grown to become synonymous with the development and hybridization of the greatest assortment of types of roses in the world. 

Initially Jackson & Perkins specialized in selling grape vines and strawberry plants. In 1896, the Company hired E. Albert Miller. To that date the nursery had done little in the area of plant hybridization. Mr. Miller would change that. In his spare time he began to experiment with rose breeding. In 1901 he had perfected a new strain which Jackson & Perkins began to market. This was a climber, named the Dorothy Perkins, and it became one of the most popular roses in the world and remains so to this day. 

As sales and passion for the Dorothy Perkins rose soared the Company realized it had a stunning growth opportunity to market and hybridize other styles of roses.  

Full-time hybridizers were hired. Soon Jackson & Perkins became the world’s most prolific grower and creator of new species of roses. One such hire, Eugene Boerner is credited with creating the beautiful Floribunda class of roses. Another, William Warriner developed over 110 specific types of new hybrid roses that won numerous international prizes, including 20 All-American Rose selections. Mr. Warriner’s Medallion and Red Masterpieces were chosen for special issue postage stamps in 1978 by the United States Postal Service. Over 40 million of William Warriner’s hybridized rose creations were sold to consumers. 

Fame, awards and prosperity kept accumulating for the Jackson & Perkins nursery. The 1939, at the New York City World’s Fair Jackson & Perkins organized a display of their roses entitled “A Parade of Modern Roses”. The exposition was an immense success. Visitors from everywhere wanted to purchase the Company’s assorted rose bushes but did not want to carry them as they travelled. The Company, always as astute commercially as they were as plant hybridizers, organized a mail order fulfillment operation. It quickly became the largest mail order house specializing in roses in the country.

By the 1960’s the Company had outgrown facilities in New York and began to move operations to California, finally settling in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1966 the Jackson & Perkins nursery operation was purchased by the fruit and gift house of Harry & David. The Company, however, still pioneered in the development of new growing techniques and saw sales extended around the world. 

The following are some interesting facts about the Jackson & Perkins nursery operations: 

• The Company cultivates over 5000 acres of rose fields
• The Company’s roses thrive in the local Hesperia loam soil
•  Each year the Company horticulturists grow, bud and harvest 10 million plants
• Each year between 300,000 and 400,000 seedlings are grown and evaluated at the Jackson & Perkins Research Center
• Seven to 10 years of hybridizing work is required to perfect every new type of rose
• Only the most beautiful and hardiest new roses are commercially cultivated, named and sold to the public, few make the cut!
• The Company ships over 2 million plants to customers every year.

Today the Jackson & Perkins Nursery is one of the great success stories in horticultural history. The Company has expanded to market and sell a complete range of shrubs, ground covers, garden tools, decorative garden gifts, bulbs, tools, plants, and of course, roses. From humble beginnings as a local small business, this tale of achievement is evocative of what can happen in America when hard work, passion, vision, a belief in capitalism and the smallest bit of good fortune co-mingle to produce an enterprise that is valued by flower lovers, gardeners and rose enthusiasts from around the world.

As I write this piece I am surrounded by spring in full bloom. Growth, new life and abundance are sprouting everywhere after a very hard and extended winter. The roses my wife and millions of dedicated gardeners nurture are one of life’s most wonderful natural treats. We can all be grateful that a Company such as Jackson & Perkins has added so much beauty to our lives, and their genius renews itself so beautifully each year in our yards and fields.