In This Issue
Best Mothers Day Ever? And what about March?
GTN's Newshound joins the crowds at the Wyevale Crowland Closing Down Sale
Durston's plea to business on recycling
APAC to build new centre next door to Wyevale at Leicester
March 2019 sales now heading in the right direction
LifestyleGarden® confirms exclusive new partnership with the Eden Project
Notcutts celebrates success at annual conference
Cherry Lane creates 18 jobs at former Wyevale Barnett Hill
Co.Antrim centre doubles workforce to 100 after expansion
Haskins Garden Centres introduce ‘adopt a houseplant’ scheme
Plans for 32 homes on unused part of Notts garden centre
31 locations for FlowerTrials visitors in June.
Great lead up to Mother's Day for plants
Garden retail set to power ahead as industry defies gloomy High Street outlook
Bord na Mona launches branded lorry fleet to raise profile
Haskins Ferndown raises more than £5,500 for Autism Wessex
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Katy Golden joins The Great British Card Company
Growing media sales heading for record March
Planters defends its 'Live chicks for Easter' post
Mass gardening activity gets underway
Warm weather boosts February garden centre sales
Tomato plants dominate Bestsellers Veg-2-Gro chart
Now is the time to stock up on Neudorff’s fridge-free nematodes
Wild Bird Care sales on the increase
The best of last week's
Wyevale Crowland Garden Centre to close
Industry pioneer Mike Dunnett dies
"The unifying energising effect it has is priceless." Alan Roper on the Blue Diamond Awards evening
Dobbies signs with Nisa for everyday groceries
Garden Re-Leaf Day Walk and Cycle Challenge boasts record numbers
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
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






GTN's Newshound joins the crowds at the Wyevale Crowland Closing Down Sale

What-ho, Hound-followers! While your Newshound’s diligence knows no bounds, nose never far from the ground on the scented trail of knowledge worth sharing with you, facts are sacrosanct.

 

OK, so occasionally, I confess, a modicum of speculation can’t be resisted, but only when the source of the titbit is as impeccable as a Bonio (especially when it comes to the subject of Wyevale Garden Centres). No place here for gossip or guesswork.

 

This is one of those occasions, though, when I shall enjoy the role of observer…simply watching what the speculators are up to, speculating on the speculators....knowotimean?

 

Turns out that some of them believe Dobbies is about to sign a deal to buy 30 of the 97 Wyevale centres still for sale. They imply they’re basing it on insider knowledge – but WGC, as is its custom, says it can’t comment. Dobbies makes no secret of its desire to grow its current 38-centre estate…doing precisely what Wyevale did back in the old days, when Brian Evans was in charge – bolting on a big chunk of instant turnover. So the sources could be on to something.

 

Whoah…let’s not get carried away with too much ‘spec’…although I have to say I was intrigued by one source’s suggestion that Dobbies made its move after an investor from outside the garden industry dropped its bid for the whole remaining group.

 

Let’s pause and do the maths; 97–30 = 67. So that’s probably why one of the speculators suggests that other potential buyers are still in negotiation with WGC as well. There are still 67 to shift.

 

Meanwhile – and this is fact not fake – WGC is to close its Crowland centre on 28 April (the week after Easter) in Lincolnshire after failing to tempt buyers, largely blaming the arrival of the local by-pass a few years ago for falling footfall. When your hound popped by to take a peek last week, the place was heaving as a “50% Off” closing down sale began to clear the shelves.

 

Finally, one of the unsold 97 is Wyevale Leicester Rowena – which sits next door to a new retail floristry centre planned by APAC Group, the floristry sundries suppliers well known to many garden centres (see story below for more details about that). APAC’s MD Roger MacKay says he’ll be undercutting Wyevale’s prices….something else to speculate on.

 

Woof woof! until next time.

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