In September, the wetter weather dampened garden centre sales of hardy plants and outdoor living ranges, meaning that sales in September 2019 remained flat compared with the same month in 2018.
Houseplants and garden care products performed well in September, with houseplants seeing an increase of 13% compared to September last year, and garden care increasing by 9% in month to month comparisons.
All categories reported remain up on 2018 for year to date comparisons.
HTA Director of Membership Martin Simmons comments “Despite losing ground in September, year on year comparisons show that garden centre sales have maintained strong growth. Rolling year to September 2019, compared to 2018 show that sales are up 9%.”
September saw a mixture of weathers, including sunshine hours 15% higher and mean temperatures 0.5⁰C higher than the long-term average. By contrast, rainfall was 25% higher than average for the month of September, bringing the most rain in its month since 2000.
This issue of Market Update looks at garden centre sales and overall market performance. The topical feature in this issue looks at HTA member business confidence. HTA members are generally feeling positive about the outlook of their business over the next three and twelve months, with over 8 in 10 leaning towards the positive end of the scale. Over half are definitely looking to introduce new products or services, and one quarter are definitely looking to engage in training for their staff and business.
The October edition of HTA Market Update is available free for members to download from the HTA website, by logging in and then going to the Market Information pages at https://hta.org.uk/learn-develop/market-information.html