Sifting through the deluge of artificial grass companies
There are a lot of companies out there selling artificial grass. Some of the trademarks include AstroLawn®, SotfLawn™, SYNLawn™, NewGrass™, and WaterLess Grass™. Others don’t have trademarks but still offer artificial grass products, these companies include FieldTurf, ProGreen, SouthWest Greens, XGrass, AllProGreens, and ForeverLawn among numerous others. They are all competing for what looks to be a very fast growing market. In fact, according the the Synthetic Turf council the market for synthetic grass is already over half a billion a year and growing very quickly. They do admit, however, that the true numbers for the industry are not known because the members are very tight lipped. They also suggest that the artificial lawn segment accounts for only about 20% of the overall number but it is the fasted growing segment at nearly 80% a year. SYNLawn Inc. let their sales figures out in an article in Orlando Sentinel as they admitted their sales topped $30 million last year.
Looking under the hood, however, makes for interesting viewing. What you will find is that all of these products are essentially the same. That is because they all use the same manufacturing base in Dalton Georgia. There is in fact, only a hand full of companies in the US that can even produce synthetic grass, companies like Crystal Products and Challender Industries, and the vast majority of them use the same material from Thiolon Industries.
If you are considering buying artificial grass for your lawn it is hard to decide. Some of the things to consider are:
1) How stable is the company? Are they just a fly by night operation? This is important because of the warranty the grass carries. You have to be sure the company will be there tomorrow to service the lawn if need be.
2) What is the position of the company in your market? Sales stats suggest that NewGrass Inc is the largest supplier of artificial lawns in Arizona and SYNLawn is the largest supplier in Nevada the top two markets respectively.
3) How does the price compare? Ask for the price of the grass up front separate from the installation costs. The installation costs are what should vary and if you have multiple installers installing the same product then you can get the best quote.
4) Do they have the grass in stock? This seems like a simple question but its not. There have been numerous situations in the past where customers have complained that they paid for grass but did not receive it up to 90 days later. Hence, it is always better to go with a company that has the grass ready to go.
5) What is the service like? Ultimately, your buy will come down to the service that is supplied. How many installs have the installers done? Can they show examples of their work? How committed are the sales people to the job?
Artificial lawns are a new and exciting product that is certainly going to be a topic of discussion for years to come. All you have to do is read the various company sites about the advantages for it. The disadvantages are still to come, since that is harder to establish in such a new industry.
There are a lot of companies out there selling artificial grass. Some of the trademarks include AstroLawn®, SotfLawn™, SYNLawn™, NewGrass™, and WaterLess Grass™. Others don’t have trademarks but still offer artificial grass products, these companies include FieldTurf, ProGreen, SouthWest Greens, XGrass, AllProGreens, and ForeverLawn among numerous others. They are all competing for what looks to be a very fast growing market. In fact, according the the Synthetic Turf council the market for synthetic grass is already over half a billion a year and growing very quickly. They do admit, however, that the true numbers for the industry are not known because the members are very tight lipped. They also suggest that the artificial lawn segment accounts for only about 20% of the overall number but it is the fasted growing segment at nearly 80% a year. SYNLawn Inc. let their sales figures out in an article in Orlando Sentinel as they admitted their sales topped $30 million last year.
Looking under the hood, however, makes for interesting viewing. What you will find is that all of these products are essentially the same. That is because they all use the same manufacturing base in Dalton Georgia. There is in fact, only a hand full of companies in the US that can even produce synthetic grass, companies like Crystal Products and Challender Industries, and the vast majority of them use the same material from Thiolon Industries.
If you are considering buying artificial grass for your lawn it is hard to decide. Some of the things to consider are:
1) How stable is the company? Are they just a fly by night operation? This is important because of the warranty the grass carries. You have to be sure the company will be there tomorrow to service the lawn if need be.
2) What is the position of the company in your market? Sales stats suggest that NewGrass Inc is the largest supplier of artificial lawns in Arizona and SYNLawn is the largest supplier in Nevada the top two markets respectively.
3) How does the price compare? Ask for the price of the grass up front separate from the installation costs. The installation costs are what should vary and if you have multiple installers installing the same product then you can get the best quote.
4) Do they have the grass in stock? This seems like a simple question but its not. There have been numerous situations in the past where customers have complained that they paid for grass but did not receive it up to 90 days later. Hence, it is always better to go with a company that has the grass ready to go.
5) What is the service like? Ultimately, your buy will come down to the service that is supplied. How many installs have the installers done? Can they show examples of their work? How committed are the sales people to the job?
Artificial lawns are a new and exciting product that is certainly going to be a topic of discussion for years to come. All you have to do is read the various company sites about the advantages for it. The disadvantages are still to come, since that is harder to establish in such a new industry.
posted by Trevor at 2:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home