|
Well, the wheels have been set in motion. Coming up next month, I have signed up to give a lecture on artificial turf at a local garden/flower show that I will have a booth at.
I've been doing some research on the subject for a few months now, and decided to give it a shot.
So far, I'm not a 100% sold on the stuff yet myself, but then again, who am I to judge what is or isn't 'desirable'.
The article you mentioned seems to be a recurring theme on the downfall of fake grass. After doing many searches, it seems to be one of the biggest complaints on artificial grass. One house has a green lawn all year long and it sticks out like a sore thumb on a other wise 'dead' street.
At this point, I want to focus my initial sales towards commercial applications. I do see a tremendous oppurtunity in this sector. Imagin all those Mc'd's, burger kings, taco bells, etc. with those small sections of turf that have to be mowed, fertilized, cared for year in and year out, and still....look like crap. I see a good market there.
Also, looking into the municipal aspect, mainly road side medians. Hey, instead of pouring concrete in the middle of that median, how bout fake grass???
As for residential ideas, I'm still working on that. I'm in NJ....not Arizona. Lot sizes are pretty large here, and well, water restrictions are getting tight, but not that tight. I don't think I'm going to get too many 1 acre installs at $10 a foot, so think I need to develop a special market. One idea I have is shooting for areas such as pool areas (ie....the area between the fence and the pool decking that often is too big to plant, but also is a pain in the but to get a mower into every week). Also, looking at the idea of incorporating the fake grass with paver installs. I like the idea of trying a driveway with paver tire tracks and fake grass in the middle as when you try to install real grass, it is often a struggle to keep it alive in such conditions.
I've gotten a bunch of samples from different manufacturers and will say that theres quite a selection. Some are pretty decent looking, others, well.....look like a cheap carpet you'd buy at home depot for that screened in porch.
It should be at least interesting to see how things go. There's a handfull of guys around here installing synthetic putting greens, but besides that, I don't see much competition. Maybe's there's a reason for that. Maybe fake grass isn't meant to be in NJ and should be left for warmer places? I don't know, but I'm gonna take a shot and see where it leads.
|