Edible Complex: Lowe's Garden Promotion Hopes to Harvest Long-Term Profits
Lowe's (LOW) is planting a seed to grow more customers.
The home center retailer has introduced a new fruit, vegetable and herb plant line called Grow Your Own that encourages increasingly frugal consumers to cultivate their own edibles.
Naturally, the idea is to sell more than plants. 
In introducing Grow Your Own, which are essentially fruit, vegetable and herb growing kits, Lowe's is telling consumers that nature, patience and a helpful tip or two can turn indoor or even kitchen gardens into a harvest of bounty. So, the retailer is providing experts at its stores, how-to videos at Lowes.com and a program support microsite, Lowes.com/GrowAlong. The microsite allows consumers to sign up for a Garden Grow Along program that provides advice from experts as well as a weekly newsletter featuring gardening plans and the latest gardening tools.
Information on the microsite ranges from the basics, including a video about how to read the informational tags that come with Lowe's plants, to full-scale garden projects â€" including how to be a "frugal gardener" â€" to elaborate landscaping plans to blogs on growing in different regions of the United States.
Not everyone is enthusiastic about digging in, but the promotion fits in nicely with the growing interest in food among Americans. Some people are more interested in the kind of food, such as vegan, organic or free-range. For others, it's the experience, as in taking a great big bite of something and enjoying an explosion of flavor. The common ground is the desire for full, fresh taste. Giving consumers a way to save money while getting the sensations they savor has an appeal that spills over well beyond the gardening crowd.
Beyond that, home center executives noted early in the recession that with consumers likely to shy away from major home projects, an alternative would be to get them involved with small ones. Already, retail executives have noted an increased interest in auto and home repair, which has prompted Walmart (WMT), among others, to revisit categories such as tools.
With its new plant program, Lowe's is taking the strategy a step farther. For $8 â€" Lowe's price in Brooklyn this week -- a tomato plant can produce a bumper crop of round, red deliciousness. And when the times are more fruitful, the Grow Your Own program hopes it will harvest a new set of enthusiasts willing to invest in bigger projects.