Week 5A - Defining Your Target Market

     I chose the first set of websites, Armstrong Garden and Myrtle Creek because I do work in the industry and I am naturally interested!
     Armstrong definitely has a more corporate and commercial feel to it and their website looks more "cookie-cutter" from a template or something, but it's clean and simple. On their website you can browse their selection of roses, garden supplies, fertilizers, soil, etc... but purchases are in-store only which I found odd for a company that size. The only exception is e-gift cards. Armstrong boasts that they have 32 stores throughout California, plants are locally grown in-house and their motto is "Gardening without Guesswork." They have a couple call to action banners, one that offers a free landscape design and one that offers more information of the health benefits of house plants.  They have a couple places that advertise landscape or gardening consultation for homeowners so I think their demographic is possibly higher incomes, adults and more of a regional corporate look and feel.
     Myrtle Creek has a very local, family-friendly boutique look and feel to it and the website is definitely more personalized in design that fits the brand well. There aren't any products to browse through online but they do advertise that their is a nursery and a small gift shop. They seem to be all about the local history, botanical gardens, nature of the area, cafe and family-friendly activities that would be great for a family day trip. Their demographic is geared toward people of all ages and incomes with a boutique look and feel.
    Both websites have gardening tips and a glossary, but Armstrong is a larger, commercial scale provider to the gardening and landscape community that is smaller than Home Depot or Lowe's but definitely bigger than your local small-business nursery such as Myrtle Creek.  Myrtle Creek's nursery just seems to be an offshoot of the botanical gardens and doesn't look like it's the main focus even though it might be, it definitely isn't treated like the main focus on the website.

-DavidT