Retail Garden Center Academy

Judy Sharpton is a garden center design and renovation specialist with 20 year's experience in advertising and promotion and the owner of Growing Places Marketing. Growing Places specializes in store design, renovation and branding programs exclusively for independent retail garden centers and farm markets, with a special focus on small and medium market stores. Judy presents programs on store design and renovation issues to a wide range of industry trade associations, product suppliers and distributor groups. Judy has contributed articles on store design including case studies from her work with clients to industry publications including Birding Business, the OFA Bulletin, Lawn and Garden Retailer and Garden Center Magazine. Judy currently partners with Ball Publishing's retail magazine, Green Profit, on a monthly column on store development titled Retail Ready™.She writes a monthly publication for Proven winners™ titled "What's in Store" and publishes her own electronic newsletter titled "The Retail Hat!" Judy is the founder of the Store School™ a collection of programs focusing on consumer-based store development. Store School™ includes individual one-hour presentations plus full day and multi-day workshops on store development. Judy is an avid gardener (and occasional Latin speaker) building her last garden adjacent to a salt marsh near Savannah, Georgia.