A Tyrone garden centre that stands to lose around £30,000 in revenue due to remaining closed this month will reopen in April “regardless of the decisions that come from Stormont”. Management at The Garden Depot in Strabane have made the decision to open again on April 4, despite no confirmed reopening date having been announced yet by Stormont ministers.
Owner John McGuinness said the business simply could not afford to stay closed during the coming months. He claimed the garden centre stood to lose between £30,000 and £40,000 in revenue this month alone.
Mr McGuinness said, “Our issue is that customers can go to Asda or Lidl and buy similar products that we sell, and customers are ringing asking why we aren’t allowed to open. We cannot afford to stay closed.
“We are sick of having no answers, no help and I won’t let my business go under. Our prime months are coming up and we have already lost March.
“We were all promised financial help from the government but since November we haven’t seen anything”. The businessman said it would be expensive to restock the garden centre ahead of reopening but he is determined to save his business.
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