In This Issue
Bents and Castle Gardens are GCA Christmas Winners for 2017
So what went on behind closed doors at the Wyevale suppliers meeting.?
Durston's BUY BRITISH Campaign hailed a success
Ruxley Rose judge sees ‘plant area confidence’
Is Christmas peaking too soon?
Top tips from the HTA Marketing Forum
Leanne wins award for dealing with tricky customers
Alan Titchmarsh backs new dementia-friendly guide for garden centres
Tong GC appoints ex-Cranswick exec as FD
Garden centres defend use of reindeer after animal rights protests
T&M's new NPD team boasts 140 years of horticultural know-how
Animals at zoo on Van Hage site may have to be put down after plans are rejected
B&M UK's bargain bonanza marches on
Dutch nursery's pre-planted hedging on the up
Klass takes another batch of garden centre concessions
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Draper Tools appoint Sales Director
Festive drip feeder sales disappointing
Colder weather hits growing media sales
'Feeling Good' about Christmas
Up, up, up – plant sales shine
SBM launches Baby Bio gift packs for Christmas
'Don't forget gift vouchers for Christmas' says HTA
Launch of the Stewart Garden Schools Programme 2018
The best of last week's
When will the For Sale sign go up at Wyevale GCs?
Martin Stewart apologises over Santa tickets as 10,000 requests crash website
Cheeky innuendo takes garden centre customers by surprise...
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Kadai are Firepit Stars at Taste of London Festive
Food trends to keep an eye on in 2018
New SPAR Market food store format sees sales and margins rise
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news. 

Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700


Is Christmas peaking too soon?

 

Christmas is either peaking too soon or we are just in for a bumper season, according to EPOS data supplied by garden centres for GTN Bestsellers. 

 

As the graph below shows, last week the sales volume of the GTN Christmas Top 50 products matched the peak of 2014 in the second week of December and was only 7% behind last year’s bestselling week at the start of December.

 

With ice rinks opening, grottos already fully booked and plenty of other Christmas events planned, our gut feel is that despite the economic uncertainty at the moment, customers are using Christmas as a ‘feel good’ excuse, and where garden centres have visually appealing displays with a mix of great products on sale, high levels of purchase are inevitable.

 

What do you think about the prospects for the rest of the Christmas Spirit? Have we peaked too soon? Do let us know by email: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

 

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year...

Garden Products - down 21%

Growing Media - down 3%

Wild Bird Care - down 8%

Christmas Products - up 38%

All Plants Index - up 45%

All Items Index - up 5%

 

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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Robin Tuppen
Or, perhaps, with "Christmas" "starting" earlier and earlier each year is it not inevitable that the peak will be earlier? Just a thought because customers are getting a bit fed up with Christmas being forced on them from August onwards!