This highly-regarded Daytona Beach, Florida, retail property sits just a few hundred feet away from the finish line where some of the most enduring memories in motorsports history have happened. Opening its doors in early 2024, the facility now stands alone as the largest store among the chain’s Central Florida locations, at roughly 150,000 square feet in floor space. The well-kept facility has quickly become a go-to for local shoppers looking to fight inflation with its renowned membership pricing. It’s also popular due to the massive convenience of a tire center, pharmacy, hearing aid center, and gas station.
Challenges
All commercial landscaping projects of this size face time crunches. Yet, this project took those constraints to a new level as the grand opening had to coincide with the most popular event in the city’s racing calendar. Add to that the intense traffic that this event would bring, and we were facing additional safety concerns for our commercial landscape teams.
Daytona is known for scorching temperatures and heavy rainstorms as well. Both of those realities would be obstacles to ensuring plant and tree health over the long haul, not to mention the potential for drainage problems. Lack of shade in a giant parking lot presents the potential for heat-exhaustion for workers in any industry, especially with the rigors of commercial landscaping.
Budget concerns are always part of the planning for warehouse retail shopping centers like this. Attractive green spaces are desired, obviously, but the needs differ from those of a hotel entrance, for example. Finally, we knew there would be limited space for planting inside the more narrow parking lot islands.
Interestingly enough, all of these challenges could have easily overwhelmed a landscape project manager tackling the biggest project of his career to that point.
Results
Yellowstone Landscape was awarded this contract after being recommended by another long-time client. Below, you’ll find the solutions that have led to success and the building of another great relationship between Yellowstone and this client.
- Native trees and shrubs were chosen to thrive despite Florida’s humid summers.
- Drought-tolerant plants and smart irrigation save the client money due to lower-than-normal water usage for this number of plants.
- Our scheduling software was updated to include any traffic spikes for the upcoming event to ensure material deliveries wouldn’t be delayed.
- Yellowstone’s project manager worked closely with other teams on-site to ensure our activities didn't impede their progress toward the tight deadline.
- Drainage concerns were looked at from multiple angles using past rainfall data as well as future projections of regional climate patterns.
- Using crushed decorative rock instead of mulch also helped overcome the potential for drainage mishaps.
- Right plant, right place mentality informed installation decisions impacting plant health, customer parking lot navigation, and sightlines for driver safety.
- Low-maintenance landscaping designs were used to keep costs manageable for our client, without skimping on quality.
- Serving a wide range of commercial properties, we understood what it would take to meet this incredibly tight installation deadline.
- Being chosen to handle the landscaping for two cities hosting the biggest football game of the year prepared us for the rush of the sporting event across the road from this project.
- Our design team has won numerous design awards. That experience helps us turn a simple parking lot into an inviting space with pleasant greenery where shoppers feel safe and relaxed.
Property Reviews
“Ease of parking and the landscaping is a nice touch.”
“Friendly staff, plenty of parking, love this place.”
“Great location, clean, nice parking lot.”
Lifetime Value
Some people might look at a warehouse club parking lot and not consider the design planning it takes to make it inviting to customers. After all, this retail company isn’t trying to draw people in for a six-night stay at a vacation resort. However, when you consider the lifetime value of a shopper, it’s monumentally crucial to make a perfect first impression. Otherwise, there’s the risk of the customer being let down and then shopping at a competitor’s retail center—for the next 30 years.
At Yellowstone Landscape, it is our pleasure to make sure their customers get a picturesque first impression when they drive up to this retail space. Having a parking lot with clean lines, vibrant greenery, and plantings for navigational guidance has achieved that goal. And once the 274 trees reach maturity, the inviting atmosphere will only increase as the relaxing canopy spreads.
As for the project manager who did superb work on this project that also saw 2,800 shrubs and over 450 tons of rock installed, our company couldn’t be more proud. This gentleman started out with Yellowstone at an entry-level job and rose to the level of project manager. Our initial training program and well-established mentorship initiatives helped pave the way for his success. We had every confidence he would manage his teams safely and complete this large-scale landscape project with excellence and on time.
That’s exactly how things played out despite the high-pressure project that, like the Daytona 500 often does, came down to the wire.
Ready to partner with a landscape company that meets tight deadlines and has the best-trained workforce in the landscaping industry? Contact Yellowstone Landscape for a consultation.
