UK: Garden centre customers find happiness in houseplants in October

Customers at garden centres across the country boosted their spirits by buying houseplants during October (2020) according to the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Barometer of Trade report. Compared with the same month in 2019, sales were up 48.2%. Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive explained: “Our mental…

Garden centre chaos in the UK

Britons have reacted with fury over the absurdly long and time-consuming queues erupting at garden centres across the country. Under the current guidelines, garden centres are allowed to remain open as long as they can operate in a secure way. Frustrated customers have accused others of abusing the measures thus causing large…

Squire’s Garden Centres

UK: Why gardening is a lifesaver in lockdown

Squire’s Garden Centres recently ran a survey in which 93% of people said that gardening was a “lifesaver” during lockdown in spring. With the second national lockdown in place, getting out in the garden is going to be just as important to people’s mental health and wellbeing this time around. Gardening…

"The idea of the platform is to collect everything connected to the garden business in Europe in one place"

"We wanted everybody in Europe, when looking for some garden product to find it in one place. So we started to gather database,” says Stefan Rusenov, one of the creators of eugardens.eu, an European Garden Business Directory. This online directory for consumers was launched two years ago and is…

Ashton Hall Garden Centre

Garden centres in England and Scotland to stay open

Following confirmation that garden centres in England can stay open, James Clark, Director of Policy and Communications at the HTA said: “This announcement to keep garden centres open in England during lockdown is a huge relief and very welcome for members – not only garden centres, but for those in the…

Enjoy Garden Centre

CAN (AB): Hole's Greenhouses rebranded as Enjoy Garden Centre

TEC Property Inc., owner of the Enjoy Centre, is rebranding its greenhouse business as the company begins to grow its own legacy in St. Albert.  A ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 2 officially welcomed back customers to the 100,000-sq.-ft. greenhouse space under a new name: the Enjoy Garden Centre. The property…

Garden Centre Association

UK: Gardeners enhance their plots and cause hard landscaping sales to rise

Gardeners across the UK enhanced their outdoor spaces during September (2020) which led to a rise in sales in hard landscaping according to the Garden Centre Association (GCA)'s Barometer of Trade report. Compared with the same month in 2019, sales were up 72.37%. Hard landscaping sales have been steady…

Gardeners' World

Garden centres urged to boycott Gardeners' World magazine after Monty Don 'attack'

Garden centres are being urged to boycott Gardeners' World magazine after Monty Don 'attacked the industry that employs him'. The BBC presenter wrote about sustainable gardening last week for the magazine, and recommended people try to grow their own flowers rather than buying them in bulk from garden…

Garden Centre Association

UK: GCA reports on cancellations, growth & a thanks to members

"After calling-off our inspections for the first time in 50 years, we have also cancelled our Christmas competition and Annual Conference due to COVID-19," the Garden Centre Association announces in an update. "Despite these cancellations, we have seen growth in our GROW e-learning initiative and have…

Horkans Garden Centre

Irish garden centre owners wonder why they're being forced to close

Once again, in Ireland they're getting to grips with new restrictions and government definitions and trying to figure out what it all means. In particular, garden centre operators — and their green-fingered customers — are scratching their heads today after the government last night published a detailed…

Rimol

"Don’t overlook the importance of greenhouse garden center carts"

Garden center carts are a hugely valuable tool for encouraging shoppers to take their time, stock up on what they need, and maybe even grab a few additional items on their way to the register. Simply put, good carts make for a good shopping experience. That means happier customers—and better sales. Like…

The Secret Garden

HTA reacts to announcement concerning ‘fire-break lockdown’ in Wales

Speaking after the Welsh government’s decision to implement a ‘fire-break lockdown’ requiring all ‘non-food’ retail to close commencing Friday 23 October, James Clark, HTA Director of Policy and Communications, said:  “Like the rest of British business and society, our Welsh members are keen to see an end…

Eckards Garden Pavilion

AmericanHort Retail Tour: A Virtual Experience

AmericanHort presents a new online event, the AmericanHort Retail Tour: A Virtual Experience. The two hour tour will be held live November 19 at 2 PM, ET. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in video tours and live Q&A sessions as they explore innovative and industry-leading garden centers…

"Upgrade your garden center greenhouse with shelving & displays"

When it comes to making your garden center greenhouse an inviting, enticing, and revenue-maximizing shopping space, few features make more of an impact than quality shelving and displays. Maximize the Revenue of Every Square Foot Garden Centers need to make each and every square foot count. That’s why it’s…

UK: The Garden Center Association members share plans and their concerns for Christmas

The members of The Garden Center Association got together recently at a virtual forum to discuss their plans and share their concerns for the festive period, namely Christmas. Matthew Bent from Bents Garden and Home, Louise Burks from The Gardens Group, Guy Topping from Barton Grange Garden Centre and…

UK: British Garden Centres sees £15.4m sales hike after huge Wyevale buy-out

British Garden Centres’ transformative year saw turnover increase by almost 50 percent as it more than doubled the number of outlets operated. The Lincolnshire-based…

"Garden centres must work in partnership with suppliers to minimise future supply chain disruption"

GCA and The Garden Industry Manufacturer’s Association (GIMA) members concluded during a recent webinar that garden centres will need to work in partnership with suppliers to…

3,000 m2 Venlo construction realised in 8 weeks for Danish garden center

3,000 m2 of Venlo construction has been realized in eight weeks at the newly acquired garden centre of Billig Blomst in Næstved, Denmark. The construction went very smoothly. The construction started in mid-June with stricter rules around COVID-19. Early August the construction was completed. During these…

Frank Noon

UK: Chiswick Flower Market cancelled for October

Chiswick Flower Market, which was held for the first time in September, will not be going ahead in October. The organisers (of whom The Chiswick Calendar editor Bridget Osborne is one) have released this statement: ‘It is with great regret that the organisers of the Chiswick Flower Market have decided to…

UK: Johnsons Garden Centre celebrates record-breaking year

The firm's Garden Centre Sales Division, which is run by Retail Sales Manager, Mark Reynard has had a turbulent year to say the least when garden centres were forced to shut leading to postponed and cancelled orders of thousands of perishable plants. The division which relied heavily on online plant…

Inuvik Greenhouse

Arctic greenhouse network provides locals with everything fresh

Beneath the clear, polycarbonate dome encasing a former hockey arena, Ray Solotki, executive director of the Inuvik Community Greenhouse, tends to flourishing beds of vegetables and flowers. Temperatures in Inuvik, a 3,200-person Canadian town located 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle, can plummet…

UK: CambridgeHOK completes garden centre extension

CambridgeHOK has completed work extending a Northamptonshire garden centre, adding 1,028 square metres of new retail and leisure space for the owners. The company has been repeatedly chosen to add new facilities at the Bell Plantation Garden Centre, in Towcester, over recent years. This has included…

UK: Ravensworth Garden Centre to expand thanks to £1.1m investment

Ravensworth Nurseries in Richmond, North Yorkshire is investing £1.1m in developing an upmarket retail garden centre to enhance its already successful plant nursery with funding from Reward Finance Group. Having been established for more than 50 years, the family-run business, which is the largest grower…

"We're impressed by the length, number of heads per spray and shorter growing cycles"

Subati Flowers Ltd is one of the leading growers and exporters of standard (single head) and spray roses. Most of these cut flowers are grown at an altitude of 2200m above sea level. In recent years, the company has been focussing on developing their spray rose line even further. In this regard, they…

UK: Transformation of Hillier Garden Centre Marlow now complete

A major transformation project at Hillier Garden Centre Marlow that began just before the spring has now been completed. Visitors to the centre can now enjoy the many significant improvements, which include a 10,000 square metre covered outdoor plant area, completely refurbished restaurant and total…

GCA

UK: Houseplant sales bloom in July

Sales of houseplants at garden centres across the UK bloomed in July (2020) according to the Barometer of Trade report published by the Garden Centre Association (GCA). Compared with the same month in 2019, sales were up 81.82%. After the blistering heatwave in June, July was a much cooler month, with…

Kenya: Magana Flowers shuts down

After 25 years in the floriculture industry, Magana Flowers decided to close the doors of their farm in Nairobi, Kenya. It might seem to have been quite an abrupt end as they just rebranded last…