Shopping Guide: Ritchie Feed & Seed Inc | Ottawa East
Ritchie Feed & Seed: A Shopper's Guide
Why You Should Visit
- A Gardener's Paradise: You'll find a vast selection of gardening items, making it a one-stop shop for redoing your garden.
- Native Plant Specialists: The location offers a good selection of native plants to the Ottawa area, a plus for those seeking local varieties.
- Exceptional Customer Service:
- Shoppers can expect friendly and helpful staff. Interactions with cashiers have been noted as positive.
- Staff members are known for going above and beyond, even offering to help with non-routine tasks like fixing a Bluetooth link.
- You'll find knowledgeable staff, with some displaying a passion for plants and providing plant tips and solutions.
- Staff consistently offer helpful advice, and are able to help with various needs, including helping choose trees.
- Healthy and Vibrant Plants: You can rely on finding a great selection of healthy plants of all varieties for various purposes.
- Wide Variety of Products: The location offers a diverse range of products for your vegetable garden, flower beds, orchard, and yard.
- Convenience and Availability: The business offers all items under one roof, which may not be available in larger stores. You can also find harder to find items, such as high domes for seed trays.
- Order Service: The staff are willing to order items for you if they don't have them in stock.
- Dog-Friendly: The store is dog-friendly.
Why You Might Consider Alternatives
- Pricing Concerns: Be aware that some items, including some specific brands like Gaia Green products, can be pricier compared to big box stores like Home Depot and Amazon.
- Plant Condition Concerns: There have been reports of potential issues with plant quality, like an asymmetrical "Fat Albert" tree, as well as the presence of sickly plants.
- Indoor Plant Selection: The selection of indoor plants may be limited compared to nurseries that specialize in them.
- Succulent Selection: The selection of succulents may be quite small or disappointing, particularly in early season (April), compared to what is shown in the pictures.
- Signage Navigation: Be aware that signage for first-time visitors may not be the clearest, potentially making it difficult to locate specific items.
- Stock Availability: During peak season, popular plants, such as certain vegetable plants, can sell out quickly. It is recommended to arrive early in the season to secure what you want.
- Focus on Décor: The store seems to sell more gardening objects and deco than actual plants.
