Behind the Bluff
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Behind the Bluff
Happy, Never Satisfied | Michael Gardner
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Retirement is supposed to be the finish line, but what happens when the freedom starts to feel like you’re drifting? We’re joined by Michael Gardner, Director of Retail Operations at Palmetto Bluff, to talk about purpose, progress, and the real work of building experiences that keep people connected to a place and to each other. Michael shares how retiring at 49 taught him that wellness isn’t only about what you eat or how you move, it’s also about having a reason to get up and show up.
We dig into the transformation of RT’s Market from a neighborhood stop into a destination for gathering, seasonal traditions, and memorable moments. Michael breaks down his north star for the member experience: quality product plus signature service, delivered in a way that still feels fresh for residents who walk in every day and impressive for guests who might visit once. You’ll hear the practical realities of retail operations in a 1,400 square foot footprint, why behind-the-scenes upgrades like walk-in coolers, freezers, and a second point of sale matter, and how the team thinks about sales, profitability, and staffing without losing the heart of hospitality.
We also get specific about what’s working right now: local sourcing, wellness-forward options like microgreens, partnerships with the Palmetto Bluff Farm to reduce waste, and giving back through Bluffton Self-Help. From holiday turkey pickups to a Christmas tree “farm” at RT’s and even dog-treat gumball machines, the big takeaway is simple: be happy with progress, but never satisfied with staying the same. If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. What’s one small change you’ll make with your next 86,400 seconds?
Welcome And Michael’s Career Path
SPEAKER_00Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. Today on Behind the Bluff, we're joined by Michael Gardner, Director of Retail Operations here at Palmetto Bluff. Michael has helped lead one of the most visible transformations in our community, the evolution of RT's market. What was once a neighborhood market has become a destination for gathering, seasonal traditions, and memorable experiences. Today, our plan is to discuss Michael's journey, the vision behind the transformation, lessons learned along the way, and what's next for retail at Palmetto Bluff.
SPEAKER_01Michael, welcome to the show. Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate you having me today. First and foremost, uh it's it's certainly a pleasure to be part of Palmetto Bluff. Uh it's a it's a fascinating community. It's it's just so unique to the low country area. Uh a little bit about my background, uh, 30 plus years of public supermarkets, uh, which has um afforded me the opportunity to just dive more and more into the retail aspect. Uh, and then I decided to retire. And uh retirement is not everything it's cracked up to be. Uh, as much as everybody who thinks that it is, uh, you tend to lose kind of like what what day it is and what you're doing. So you can get very comfortable and too comfortable being retired, especially at somewhat of an early age. How long were you retired before? Uh so I retired at uh 49. Whoa. Yeah. And and so just uh through Publix, I I it afforded me to be able to do it. And I had an amazing wife that at the same time when I would come home after playing golf uh and having a couple beers, you know, uh her comment was, so what'd you get done around the house today? And I'm like, Well, I didn't get anything done around the house today, you know, because I was out doing that. And she's like, You need to get back to work. Uh so I got into the uh uh golf uh industry. Uh I worked for a company uh that that afforded me the opportunity to learn and mentor people. And I I love golf. I didn't know anything about golf at the time, but I grew into that uh relationship. Uh and I was uh regional director for uh nine golf courses uh from here to North Carolina.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Yeah. So running the retail operations for those nine golf courses?
SPEAKER_01Running everything. Wow from total ops agronomy, retail, uh food and beverage, everything. So um they kind of got out of this area a little bit, and for me to continue, I would have had to relocate. Um, and I love the low country so much, so there was just it it it didn't work for me. Um, but uh the the experience that I got uh learning about everything from F and B to agronomy. I mean, I was I was 5 a.m. at the agronomy, you know, office uh on a tractor, you know, two days a week learning, you know, so when like you know, Chris Johnson says we're putting in three eighths tines or five-eighths inch tines. You speak that language, yes, I do to some degree. I I know enough to be kind of, you know, like I I get enough to know something, but I'm dangerous, you know, to some degree.
SPEAKER_00Well, what led you to Palmetto Bluff after that vast experience with nine golf courses, everything from agronomy to the total ops of those enterprises? How did you come to be here at the bluff?
SPEAKER_01I got afforded the opportunity from one of our previous general managers. Uh uh, he thought that I would be the perfect fit uh with retail experience, with public supermarkets, you know, uh understanding the bakery operations, the the meat operations, the deli operations, the produce operations, the dry grocery, all of those things. Um, and then also having that club background as well. So it was a really good fit. Um I I met with you know that previous uh general manager, I met with you know Mr. Ferguson, uh and you know, it went really, really well. And you know what? It's it's it's been fantastic ever since. So you're stoked to be out of retirement. I I I am, to be honest. And I I I tell people this all the time. I mean, I have people from public supermarkets that say, like, I'm retiring and I'm I'm you know, I'm I'm getting out. And I'm like, you you gotta do something. Like, you know, it doesn't mean that you gotta be 60 hours a week anymore. You know, I mean, maybe it's 30 to 40, but whatever your whatever your passion is, um, and I'll use an example. There's one gentleman that he retired. He's a he's a gun freak. He loves, you know, just loves going and shooting guns and and you know, has a you know collection and all that. But I told him, I said, you know, find that for 25 hours a week at at you know one of these facilities around here and and you know, or you know, here at the at you know, at it at Palmetto Bluff. But you gotta find something to get up in the morning, shower, you know what, and and have a purpose.
SPEAKER_00Michael, let's stay right
Retirement And The Search For Purpose
SPEAKER_00there. We talk a lot about purpose on Behind the Bluff, and it sounds like you had a personal experience of losing purpose, if I understand that correctly. Can you tell us a bit more about how that made you feel? Because I think it's gonna benefit many of our listeners who are thinking about that next chapter in their life.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's um uh it's a great point, Jeff. Uh to think about that you get to get up in the morning and you don't have to do anything sounds really, really cool. It does. I mean, it's awesome that you know what, I I can go walk the dog, but you know, uh you can only watch breaking bad, you know, on Netflix so many times before you just have to go like like like like like what is what is my what is my goal for the day? Um, you know, that's that's where you know finding a purpose, um, getting up in the morning. Uh again, I go back to what I said. It doesn't mean that you have to be, you know, 50, 60 hours a week. It could be 30 hours, it could be 25, but it's it's getting up and finding something that you find uh in enthusiastic, something that you enjoy, and again, that purpose uh to where you want to get up in the morning and go do that. And maybe you only do it till noon and you go home at that point. Uh, but I think that just you know, the people that say I'm going to retire and yes, yeah, uh for going on vacations, going to somewhere for this period of time and coming back, it it at that point it does get, you know, it gets to the point where, you know what, it's mundane. Um, but the purpose of of getting up in the morning, the it's the wellness factor. It is. It is truly the wellness factor of I have a purpose to get up, I have to go do something. And you know, there's things in in, you know, you and I, you know, we there's things that we don't really enjoy doing at work, you know. I mean, it's it's you know, it is what it is, but uh it gives you that again uh purpose every day.
SPEAKER_00Reason and meaning in our lives impacts wellness just as much as the physical, just as much as what we decide to eat. And it's such a nice pause point as we move into thinking about okay, Michael became the director of retail operations here at Palmetto Bluff.
Reimagining RT’s Through Member Experience
SPEAKER_00He's obviously found meaning in his life through this role. You had to have a vision coming in. You know, hearing your background more extensively, I I knew you were high up in publics and you had rolled as that a big component of your career. I had no clue that you were overseeing nine golf courses. So, with that type of thinking, that type of past learning, you had to have a vision for RTs. Yeah. How did that start?
SPEAKER_01So, you know, it's it started with uh Rob Duckett, to be honest, after you know meeting with Mr. Ferguson, uh Rob and I had a conversation and and and Rob's comment, one of the things that that still sticks with me is is you know, I I I showed up in a in a in a blue blazer, you know, for the interview. That's shocking to me, Michael. And and and he's like, he goes, you realize that this is a this is like a working job. And I was like, what do you mean? He's like, well, you you're not gonna come to work every day in a in a in a blazer, you know, and sit behind a desk. And I was like, Rob, I'm gonna be honest with you. I said, I said, I just put on the jacket because we're having an interview and I want to be professional. You know, I said, but moving forward, I was like, you know, I said, you're never gonna meet anybody that's more just just blood, sweat, and grind and and tears than than me to you know figure out what we can do to make this property, you know, better. And that's my goal every day is is that you know, it's there's nothing broken, uh, but how we can just continue to make it better. So the the RTs thing, you know, there was when I I I started, there was a lot of things there. First and foremost, the the best thing you can do is just shut your mouth and just just listen and and observe. Um, you know, that's why we have two ears and one mouth. Um so I I just listened to what people were saying. I observed things that were working, not working, things that could be improved on. And then, you know, kind of looking at the scope of the remodel at RTs, there was a lot of things that had already been kind of like potentially put in place uh prior to me coming on board. And uh there was a lot of things that I questioned. Uh, you know, a lot of things that after having some conversations with our members, uh things that they liked, things talking to them about what the remodel scope would look like and getting their input and feedback. Uh, there was a lot of things that then I had to question and say, I don't know that's a good idea. Uh, as an one example, uh, we were gonna knock out a bathroom. So it was gonna be men's, women's, and it was gonna be a family. And my thought was was okay, we've got all these people over here at pickleball coming into RTs, and now all of a sudden we just cut the bathroom percentage by 50%. Um, probably not the best decision.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So we pick up a little bit of room in in in the back area, but we've taken uh a member's experience and demolished it by you know having you know somebody that's in the restroom for an extended period of time. Um so there was just uh there was a lot of things that we needed to to figure out.
SPEAKER_00Um and that's just one example of looking at it through the lens of the member experience. Yes, yes. As the leader over retail, give us some insight into what matters most to you about the member experience.
SPEAKER_01Uh I I go with two bullet points every day. I go with two bullet points every day. One is uh we want to make sure that we offer a quality product and we want to make sure we couple that with signature service. And when I say signature service, your signature is different than my signature. Um how you handle a member guest is different maybe than the way that I handle it. Doesn't mean yours is right, mine's wrong. Yeah, it doesn't matter. But the way that we handle signature service on a daily basis, uh, how do we make sure that there's that that that signature sauce that our members and guests, uh, because that's one of the unique things about Palmetto Bluff is that uh when you're you're dealing with you know some of our 278 um you know properties, um, you know, those are all just member experience. You know, here's different. You're dealing with somebody that is, you know, they're they're vacationing at Montage. Uh, so how do we make sure that you know that experience for them is is great along with the member experience that we're dealing with. And one of the things in retail that's a that's it's not a struggle, but it's a challenge, is making sure that that that member that's here every single day, like it's fresh and inviting for them, you know, as much as possible, because that that guest experience, it might be the only time that they ever come here. Yeah. And that's okay. That's fine. But they come here that one time. So like what they see is, oh my gosh, yeah, it's fantastic. This is this is awesome. But you also have that that member that lives here that we got to keep it fresh and inviting for them as well. So I I look at it like this if filet mignon at at the restaurant is every single Friday night, the member's going to go, seriously, can we not do something different? Can we have a different stake? Could we have something different? If if you're a guest coming here and the filet mignon is is fantastic, you leave going, wow.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a it's a tricky balance serving the two different worlds. Yes. Because to your point, when I first visited Palmetto Bluff like a decade ago and then went into RT's market, I'm like, wow, this is incredible. This small grocery store here within a gated community. And then the main population that we serve is the member experience to switch it up for them for it to be unique, for it to be almost exciting, is how I hear you describing it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That and again, that's uh, you know, you're you're dealing with the member experience, you're dealing with the guest experience from montage, and you're also dealing with the the commercial contractor, you know. So uh it's a it's a challenge to make sure that
Local Sourcing Microgreens And Fresh Food
SPEAKER_01you from a SKU standpoint and a barcode standpoint, what items do you have that that everybody wants and needs? And that's where we try to listen. And I'm sure you'll get into it here a little bit further, but you know, looking at the you know, the health and wellness drinks, um, you know, the microgreens, we started with Hardy Greens out of uh um Hardyville, South Carolina, which is an amazing company. Um, that has gone just through the roof uh with with sales. Uh fantastic. Uh the microgreen industry is just you know going above and beyond. Uh just the fact that you can get all of those just you know, just yeah, into just a in packet it in this tiny little thing, um, is is is super fantastic. And and I did not realize that we would we would do the business that we're doing um with them, but it's really become just an amazing relationship, you know, with with them. Microgreens have been quite popular. They have been fantastic. I mean, uh it's a it's almost a hey, could you come out and bring us more? Like we're almost we're almost like like out. Can you you know top us off again? So and uh shout out to them, just fantastic. Just if anybody ever gets the opportunity to go out to Hardeville and and you know experience that it's a it's a uh a revamped church that they purchased. Uh they knew nothing about like the microgreen business. Uh it's a it's a mom and pop organization, uh, and they've got two sons that really bought into learning about how to grow microgreens. Uh, but it is a just a a stellar uh uh business that they have. And it's great that we can utilize that, you know, not only for our teas, but we can you know utilize it in the restaurants, uh, we can utilize it in smoothies, uh, all those different things.
SPEAKER_00Utilized everywhere. It sounds like they are a group of people who do have a lot of meaning, a lot of purpose. They do keeping it local. I know that's the approach that our culinary team, you take, whenever we can stay local, whenever we can go a more wellness route, we we try to do that. Yep. Michael, tell us a bit more about what you're most proud of. You you came in, you listened, you helped weigh in on certain decisions from the lens of the member experience. I'd love to hear outside of the microgreens, a couple of the things that you and your team have integrated into the RT's market experience that you're really proud of.
SPEAKER_01I think there's a lot, uh, so I'll I'll kind of limit it to a few. Um, I think it's one is is making sure that we we do try to stay local as much as possible. So we're constantly having with suppliers and vendors that are local. Uh we've collaborated with uh uh Gourmet Warehouse on Hilton Head uh with you know different unique sauces, um, you know, honeys, um, all different kinds of rubs, things like that. Uh we work uh uh uh solely with uh halperns uh uh uh meats. So we've put in some some new and exciting, you know, fresh meat products, uh fresh uh seafood, fresh uh chicken. Uh we want to continue to grow that. Uh one of the things that Kathleen, who's the the manager there, her and I are we're working on is to where we kind of like utilize halperns to the members so that they can put together orders. So uh you know my vision uh moving forward would be, you know, it's it's Father's Day. Uh what's the best, you know, rib cut that we can get, you know, that they can pre-order, and that could be a Father's Day item, you know, those sort of things. Uh it could be it could be oysters, you know, by the by the bushel. Um that's that's the sort of stuff that we're trying to just continue to to get better and better. One of the things uh you said about, you know, what am I most proud of is uh the relationship with the farm. Um that was something that was zero years and years ago. Uh I think we've done a pretty good job. We can always again, I uh listen, I'm happy, never satisfied. Um, but our goal is that we want to make sure that our uh members can get farm fresh produce from the farm uh available all the time. Uh so we have you know, part of our team will go down that will help you know Shane pick if need be. Yes. That's so cool. Yeah. So uh yeah, uh we've tried to make a collaboration between the farm and uh RT's market. Uh our goal is that we don't want to see any any any product go to waste. Uh and so whether it's you know we're ensuring that the culinary team gets it, whether it's RTs gets it, whether our associates get it. And then uh finally at the end of the day, if we've exhausted all of that, then we've worked with uh Bluffton Self-Help uh to be able to go ahead and provide them with some of that product that that we don't want to see anything just rotting on the vine. Uh you know, we have a uh a huge community here, uh, and uh there's people out there that need it. Um so if we can get that to Bluffton Self-Help uh and let them be able to distribute it, um, I think that's a great thing for says a lot about us as as the ownership of Palmetto Bluff and getting that out to the community.
SPEAKER_00I appreciate you thinking about that type of relationship. All of our members are passionate about giving back and to know that that's taking place and this relationship with the farm and ensuring that there's that connection between those two worlds. It's it's just sounds like what what we needed all along. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
Renovation Lessons In Limited Space
SPEAKER_00You have led a renovation most recently over at RT's Market. And uh frankly, Michael, I don't get over there enough to to really look at the the changes. And I know there's been a lot of changes. I popped in there the other day. I want to hear about the large project, the vision behind it, and tell us some of the biggest lessons learned. I mean, you know, we just opened up a fitness center and I've already got a few lessons that I learned. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Um so I actually I I actually have it in my notes for you of one of the things at RT's is you know, it's it's fourteen hundred square feet. Okay. So unless you're going to shell out, you know, millions of dollars, it's it's north, south, east, west, is five. 1400 square feet. Um, so it's it's one how do you maximize you know your your sales to the square footage that you have? Um the other item is how do we ensure that the associates that are there um get the things that they need? So so moving, you know, looking back from you know years ago when I came in, I was like, where do you guys store this? And they're like, oh, we we I I probably shouldn't say this, and you can edit this out if you want to. You know, oh, we store that soda outside. And I'm like, no, we no, it's a hundred degrees out right now, you know. So looking at, you know, just the the internal structure of everything going on in there, you know, there wasn't enough space. Um RTs has just continued to just grow and grow and grow, and that is because of our associates that are there. Um, and it has become that that place to just interact, sit on the front porch, you know, have a cup of coffee, read the Wall Street Journal, whatever you're gonna do, um, you know, have the dog treats available for the four-legged friends. Uh everybody wants to go up there. But, you know, as it's continued to morph into more and more what it is, um, you know, you you you lack refrigeration, you lack freezer space, um, you lack just additional space in general. So, you know, one of the things that that I looked at is we had talked about let's let's do this, let's change this, let's add this. The first and foremost thing is is we need we need coolers and freezers. We need more than what we have right now.
SPEAKER_00Um so This almost goes to your first point of member experience, the the quality.
SPEAKER_01It is, it is, it is, it is so we can't when you have somebody in a you know five by five, I mean no bigger than this room, and that's your your your cooler freezer area, but your sales and and volume continues to grow and grow and grow. Um, you gotta you gotta make some decisions. And that was one of the biggest things was was was adding the the large style. Uh I I appreciate Mr. Ferguson to to no end. Um when probably six months into working here, and I was like, grey, we we need a we need a just a portable refrigerator out back. And I was like, I know it's not gonna look pretty. I mean, I get it. It's not. I mean, the thing's gonna be blue and it's gonna have, you know, their writing on the side and all that. I was like, but it's just best for our associates. And and to me, that's the that to me is the most important thing is our associates. Because if our associates are happy, then that's gonna go and move forward to what how the member experience is from them. I can't be out every day talking to Mr. and Mrs. McGillicuddy, but our teams are. So the happier they are, that just transcends to them. Yeah, right. So so putting on, you know, getting the new freezer and and coolers, you know, that are walk-ins, um, that has made their lives just super, super better. Uh, and you know what, you know, there again, there's a cost associated with that that that maybe could have been afforded to the the retail floor area with some changes, but it's it's it's important that we have that so that when we do things, you know, whether it's the um uh Thanksgiving turkey, you know, pickups with our members, you know, uh uh different things of of of nature, you know, those now we have so our associates have a better area to be able to go ahead and they don't have to be so frustrated.
SPEAKER_00The actual infrastructure renovations are leading to the improved experience. Yes. And it sounds like Gray was super supportive to make that happen. And I I just love how you come in, you think about the associates. The flow has improved over there though, dramatically.
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, so we put in a we put in a second uh point of sale. Uh so that was that was super helpful. Uh that, you know, obviously we had to put in new countertops. We had to, you know, Stephanie Genteman and myself had to, we went to Savannah. We had to look at, you know, what the marble looked like and and and do all that so that everything matched up. Um, you know, kind of a lot of kind of behind the scene things that maybe you really wouldn't notice. Um, but the fact that we've gone for you know 14 years with only one POS and now we have you know a second one is is pretty instrumental. It's a it's a game changer.
SPEAKER_00And I'm gonna put you on the spot here, Michael. You're you're a numbers
Retail Numbers Profit And Team Pride
SPEAKER_00guy. I am. And every time that I've heard your reports, I'm blown away by the business that Artis does. So this is mainly directed for our member listener who's who's probably quite interested. What kind of sales does RTS do on the annual? Um it it it's about 3.3 million. That's nuts, man.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Um and our goal it it across retail, be it the bottle shop, be it uh uh PB Outfitters, flow gallery. Um, you know, Mark, our new general manager, asked me the question the other day. He's like, is is you know, is flow gallery a feel-good thing, or you know, like, you know, like you know, and so I always carry the numbers in my pocket, uh, just so that I have them. I I I go by Thomas Jefferson that says, Don't ever memorize something that you can easily look up. Um so I pulled it out and I said, here's the numbers for flow, you know, and and I said, you know, it it's slated to do X, you know. I'm like, but here it is doing Y, which is seven times more profitable than what, you know, what it was supposed to be doing from a budgetary, you know, standpoint. So um across retail, um, you know, again, you know, I I enjoy the fact that I I you've heard me in meetings, profit's not a dirty word. Um, you know, we we we want to be able to support because you know, there's other entities on property that maybe not as as as fruitful and successful. So whatever we can do to help out, uh that's our goal. Uh but from a a profitability and from a revenue standpoint, um, from the retail uh there's a lot going on. There's a lot going on, and I'm very proud of our team that that they have done, they they embrace everything. Um, we can always we can always be better. Uh we can always do better. Um again, go back to what I said at the beginning, happy, never satisfied. But uh yeah, it's uh it's it's it's great to be able to when the numbers come out and go, you guys did an amazing job.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Living never satisfied is a big takeaway there. It's just you know, happiness, it's it's it's an interesting concept. I I like the word joy and living unsatisfied with always trying to be better. It's such a a great outlook on life. So I'm glad you've brought that up a couple times here.
Holidays Pop-Ups And Shared Traditions
SPEAKER_00Let's uh move into thinking about this from the lens of wellness. Uh, something I admire about your team is the invention around the holidays. You mentioned the turkeys earlier. And I'm interested on our side, our programming is the fitness classes, it's the personal training, it's different events around the holidays as well. I always love to hear the creative juices from a fellow teammate. How do you approach the retail calendar to keep members engaged, to keep them excited throughout the year?
SPEAKER_01Well, one thing is is we we've we've got to make sure that we're cognizant of different members. Um, you know, whether it is you know coming into you know the Christmas season, what do we do for the Jewish clientele? You know, how do we have things available for for them? Um making sure that everything is uh as available as possible, you know, going out of you know, if we have to run to Sam's Club, if we have to run to Publix or Kroger, whoever, uh, to be able to go ahead and get those items, making sure that you know those things we don't want anybody to feel like that they've been stifled, that that, you know, like, oh, I'm not important. Inclusivity, not left out. Correct, correct. Um, you know, and then you talked about what what we've done to make things better. And one of the things, honestly, is you know, we did the Christmas tree farm last year. Um, and you know, we've always done that at the farm. And, you know, it's been it's it's done okay. Uh, but what typically has happened over the years is the residual leftover trees just go to RT's and they sit there and unfortunately they become the Charlie Brown Christmas trees. Well, nobody likes that. Nobody likes that, you know. Uh, you know, nobody wants Lucy pulling a football out from underneath, you know, when you're kicking. Um, but so last year uh Shane and I collaborated together, you know, at the farm, and we made a decision to put it at RT's. Uh there's an open spot uh in front of RT's on the porch, which uh belongs to the club. Uh so we we set up the farm, we set up the uh the fencing uh and we got with you know one of our plant vendors to go ahead and kind of dress it up and make it look pretty. Uh Kathleen at RT's had teams out there with you know the hot chocolate, you know, the apple cider, the cookies. So we tried to make it, you know, for instead of just being a one or two-day event at the farm, we tried to make it more of a just a week long, maybe 10 days. Uh the cool thing is is that in in years in the past, we have, you know, I use the word shrink. That's when you throw something away. Um but last year we had zero shrink. Zero shrink. Zero shrink on trees.
SPEAKER_00Michael, did I hear you guys had some sort of like drive-thru too going on? Where like putting the trees up or yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So there's just a lot of cool things that that I, you know, as we continue to get you know better and better, we'll do more pop-ups. Uh uh Kathleen's super supportive when she gets new vendors in, getting, you know, getting them to come out. You know, we did uh again go back to Hardy microgreens. They came out, Jennifer uh harsta as the owner. She came out, she did um uh different microgreens on on you know, she did some platings, um, so she did samplings with with food. Uh so we just want to continue to do that. And we want to do that across all of all of retail. Um, you know, sip and stroll at at Flow Gallery, uh Rose Rose on the May, um equally. Uh we have a new uh Paris Market is is left. So we have it's now the Chantillery. Um so they are kind of semi-partnered with uh Simone uh down the street. Our goal is to make you know boathouse road between Flo, the Chantillery, uh Simone and PP Outfitters, kind of just morph all that as best we can and have them do pop-up events in in the courtyard. Uh, you know, just so that when somebody is leaving, whether it's Buffalo's or Melt or they're leaving, you know, the river house, whatever, um, you know, it's just kind of just a it's just a great experience for them walking down, you know, that street.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Opportunities for those individuals to explore a little bit more and just soak in the beauty of that side of uh Wilson.
SPEAKER_01It is, yeah. No, it's a fantastic. I mean, it's it's it's really a great um, you know, area, especially when you're looking at, you know, uh out on the water and then to be able to go down and you know interact with the boats and and all that sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You've seen firsthand how much people enjoy gathering around traditions and shared experiences. I I heard today that, you know, between the turkeys, the Christmas trees, the initiatives that you and the team have put in place have been extremely well received by our members. So it it speaks for itself. I want to get practical here. I want to get actionable for the listener. Outside of retail ops, outside of the club, what's one tradition or ritual you'd encourage families to create or protect?
SPEAKER_01I would probably go back to the to the Christmas tree farm. I think that that is a that's something that from a family aspect, uh, one, we need to make sure that we have the right we have the right size Christmas tree. Okay, so that's important. Um you know, do we look at doing a pre-order uh for Christmas trees, you know, this upcoming year that you know you have a you know 14 foot, you know, uh room, you don't you don't want to go up there and get a seven foot Christmas tree. You you want, you know, you want big, you want something massive. Um, so do we, you know, do we put in for pre-orders? But I think that uh what we've done last year with the Christmas trees, if we could continue to just make that even better, and yeah, I had it in my notes for you. I I think it would be great to be able to like maybe on a Saturday do, you know, some like I don't know, you know, sock hop races with kids. Okay. You know, things like that to make it even more just inclusive of family that just everybody wants to. It's one of those things that you just want to go up there and and and pick out your tree. You know, you you get a cup of hot chocolate, you you get this, you get a cookie, do whatever. Um, even even the turkeys, uh, we've we've we've tried to create that experience to be even better and and not just here's your turkey, have a good day. You know, here's your turkey, you know, and we've done it outside where you do the pickup, where you do get the experience of having like a cranberry, whatever, you know, drink, um, you know, some cookies or whatever, so that people, you know, while somebody is going and getting their turkey and all the accoutrements for them, it's wow. Yeah. And that's our that's our goal across, it should be the goal across property, and I and I hope that it is. Um yeah, that's our goal or my goal in retail is is that every day we just want we want to make sure that there's that wow factor, that that everybody, you know, when you leave, you go, hmm, that was pretty cool. Yeah. That's that made me feel different. It makes yeah, you know what? I felt special because of that. You know what? Um, so you know, that's do we fall short on expectations at times? Absolutely, you know, but how do we how do we fix that, you know, on the next visit? That's that's what's important to me.
SPEAKER_00And it sounds like going to the Christmas tree farm in one of the most iconic places on property, having activities on certain days that surround the Christmas tree farm. Man, I was starting a brainstorm. I'll save it for another time. Social connection, memories, children with their parents going there, children coming in from the holidays to spend time. It's almost like you're creating this funnel for folks to connect in a way that they would never be able to connect through. Most of us have had the experience of just driving to the store, picking up a tree, and driving home. But you and the team are pushing the envelope to really get to that piece of like, you are special. This is going to be a special experience. We want you to be wowed. And man, it's it's all it's all about those memory dividends at the end of our life, anyways. So let's let's push the envelope.
SPEAKER_01You know, Jeff, one of the one of the the silliest, stupidest things that we we've done over the last couple years that has just been so over the top, is we converted gumball machines to dog treats.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, I haven't even seen that. Yes.
SPEAKER_01I gotta be more aware when I'm over there. That's cool. But we've done that across across property, you know, at all the retail outlets. And uh we have we have we have impacted the the member and guest, more of the member because they they see it on a regular basis. They're ready for the biscuits and the various outlets around property. Dogs coming in and and and and pawing at uh no pun intended, but pawing at the gumball machine because they know that that's where it's at. And that member can you know twist the old gumball machine, open up the the metal you know, door thing, and out comes two or three treats. It is just, I mean, those are the little things. Um, you know, we do that at at the other outlets as well with with the kids. Um, I'm a I'm a huge proponent of if you can it it sounds selfish, but if you can get the kids in, then the parents are going to spend more time. If the kids are happy, the parents are gonna spend more time. Uh, I go back to my days with public supermarkets, you know, there's there's a reason there's a free cookie. Did you start that? What? What's that? Did you start the free cookie? I did not. You did not. But but I am not I am not against being the fact that I have utilized that now in our retail establishments. Um, you know, as an example, PB outfitters, you know, there's there's individual um uh what do you call it? The uh wands, the the soap wand with the bubbles, you know. So uh Jill orders those uh and the kids come in and they're just you know they're like, can I get can I get a thing of bubbles? You know, they go outside.
SPEAKER_00That's just part of the experience.
SPEAKER_01It's part of the experience, you know. And so the kids are happy, the mom and dad spend a little bit more time in the store. You know, again, profit's not a dirty word, you know. Uh we are here to, you know, make make make money. Uh, but it it it works out really good. And then again, like you said, it's creating that experience that, you know, the the parents are like, wow, you know what, they took care of, you know, took care of my child, they took care of the dog, um, you know, all those different, all those different things. So, you know, that's our goal, is that we want to make sure that at the end of the day, you know, our our teams have done what they can to make sure that that member is satisfied.
SPEAKER_00Thought and intention behind everything. Uh, I've just enjoyed so much hearing the details to the operation. I uh I'm gonna get with you to get a gumball machine so I can stock up some biscuits over at least at the Moreland studio over here. Absolutely. Michael, final
Wellness Mindset And Happy Never Satisfied
SPEAKER_00question. Yes. What does wellness mean to you?
SPEAKER_01To summarize everything, what does wellness mean to me? Uh an active, ongoing journey of making choices that align your mind, body, and spirit. Yeah, I I I use this as an example, Jeff. Um, there's 86,400 seconds in a day. How do you spend those 86,400 seconds? Um and at the end of the day, if you didn't have you couldn't keep any of those seconds. Were you were you did you do a good job for the day? Did you was your wellness good? Was your your head screwed on straight? Um 86,400 seconds. You know, uh it's it's it's it's point two milliseconds between being the gold or the silver.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, sir. It's been a lot of fun. I appreciate it. Thank you. Very welcome. Big shout out to you and your team, everything you do. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01And uh we've we've gotta we've gotta I I believe that you know one of the things, you know, that I have I've worked hard and our team has worked hard is and I know you do a great job with this too, Jeff, is is is formulating that team. Um, you know, hiring the right individuals uh is super important. I think that we're in a in a great position across retail. Uh one of the things that you know I shared with with Mark, our new general manager, is that we we always want to make sure that we have everybody cross-trained as much as possible. So you may get hired for here, but you're gonna learn here, here, and here uh because that's super important. Uh that you know what we we want to be able to have somebody go if if we have an associate that you know falls ill or has to take PTO or whatever, you know what? Boom, we got somebody that can cover that. Um so that's that's super important. And and our team has embraced that. And it's it's not a uh it's a sure, absolutely, happy to go take care of that. So uh again, I think that's the the just you know creating and building that culture um across you know the the the retail you know area and hopefully across the the the property.
SPEAKER_00Yeah culture is what impacts the member experience and being united in that mission. You do such a great job of being positive every day and and bringing that to your team and yeah, just admire the work you've you've done in your short time here like me. I think we start around the same time and just super stoked to be part of this team with you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I think uh Uh it's only gonna get you know better and better. Uh yeah, I look forward to, you know, the new entities that are, you know, coming on board. I look forward to, you know, what's gonna you know potentially happen at at Anson with additional, you know, uh retail establishments down there as well. Yeah, I've even you know spoken to Mark about you know what can we do different at Canteen? And that's not part of my retail, you know, thing, but how do we create a a better member experience? And not that there's anything wrong, but how do we, you know, whether it's you know the staple items that maybe somebody doesn't want to go to RTs to get, um, you know, I I look at everything as space to sales, you know. So if we have areas that you know we could do something different, you know, let's let's let's look at that. Let's see if we can, you know, change up like what was our previous mentality and and try to make it better because that's what we should do, you know, each and every day from all of us is how do we leave the day, you know, again, 86,400 seconds in a day. How do you utilize that to the best of your ability? And Jeff, I appreciate your time today as well.
SPEAKER_00Love your heart, love your passion, Michael. Appreciate it.
Host Reflection Healthy Momentum
SPEAKER_00Listeners, feel free to hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week. One concept that came out of my conversation with Michael Gardner has stuck with me all week long. He described the mindset at Palmetto Bluff as being happy but never satisfied. I think that's such a healthy way to look at life. Michael talked about making the holidays at RT's Market feel special with the Christmas tree farm, with the special prime rib orders, and his partnership with the farm. To me, that's so guests and members can feel connected to this place, the land. His constant drive for finding ways to keep experiences local and authentic instead of generic. It's never about adding more just for the sake of adding more in anything that we do, whether it's our work, our programs, life. It's about asking how can we make this just a little more meaningful? And that mindset doesn't stop with hospitality. It's a great approach to our own health. Be happy with where you are, celebrate the progress you've made, appreciate the body you have today, but don't become complacent. Don't become satisfied with staying the same. Maybe this week it's taking one more walk, maybe it's preparing one extra healthy meal, or it could just be getting to bed 30 minutes earlier or adding a third strength workout. Small improvements repeated over time, create remarkable change. It's why the team and I do what we do, because we get to see those small improvements repeated, leading to these remarkable changes in the people that we have the privilege of working with. Let me leave you with this this week. You can be grateful for today while still striving for a better tomorrow. Happy but never satisfied. To me, I think that's a mindset worth carrying into every area of your being. That brings us to the end of this week's conversation. I want to thank you so much for taking the time to join Behind the Bluff this week and remember to actively participate in life on your terms.
