In This Issue
2017: A year of transition for the garden centre trade
Top 50 most-read stories in GTN Xtra 2017
When will the For Sale sign go up at Wyevale GCs?
So what went on behind closed doors at the Wyevale suppliers meeting.?
Rising Stars 2017 - The final 12
Owners of garden centre face £21,000 bill after selling 'dangerous' items
Wyevale Garden Centres announces shift away from acquisitions
Wyevale Garden Centres named on 'worst to work for' list
Sad news - Alistair Lorimer dies
Durston Garden Products HOLD prices for 2018
New display ideas, new products, new suppliers at Bunnings first UK garden centre - GTN Xtra picture exclusive
Retail ops restructured as going gets tough for Wyevale GCs
All eyes will be on how Wyevale GCs plans to replace 'unsustainable' growth strategy with core business focus
Sir Terry and Mr M...unfinished business at Dobbies?
Mothers Day bonanza as garden centre records are broken across the country
We cleared out Homebase management too quickly, confesses parent company's new CEO
Carol Paris is leaving the HTA
Dobbies "gets together with Ocado to be the best on-line"
Nicholas Marshall is back in the gardening industry as CEO of Dobbies
Newshound finds Mr M has been busy recruiting 'experience'...
Terra Firma props up Wyevale Garden Centres
So this is what a Bunnings Warehouse looks like...
A bittersweet moment says Scott CEO as he announces UK, Europe and Aussie sell-off
Gardman reports £1.5m loss - but earnings soar by 50%
Blue Diamond buys Bridgford Garden Centre
Exponent Private Equity to buy Scotts business in UK, Europe and Australia
Brothers sell £15m Yarnton Nurseries business
Area Representative/Product Merchandiser
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Westland win Sword of Excellence with SafeLawn
Is this the smallest garden centre in the UK?
Glee to hold two shows per year from 2018 onwards
Garden retailers sign up to industry Xylella statement
Marshall's strategy for Dobbies to put focus back on plants
Woodlodge win GCA Associate of the year Award
"The Best Glee for Years" - Retailers verdict on this years show
"Xylella is the most serious situation I have come across in 32 years in the industry"
MEP's vote to ban glyphosate completely by 2022
Blisters, tomatoes, over 100 walkers and runners raise over £22k on Garden Re-Leaf Day
Coolings buys Potted Garden Nursery at Maidstone
Exclusive pictures from Bunnings' biggest store yet
New men at the top at Hillier
Xylella fastidiosa: how Italy has tackled the problem
Town & Country is sold to EP Barrus
Supplier rebates to exceed £1.5m for Choice members
"Garden Centre of the Future" planned for new outlet retail centre at Downtown Grantham
Bunnings UK No. 3 - Hemel Hempstead in pictures
Shoplifting costs retailers £800m a year says research
Scotts: We want out of Europe...but we won't give the business away
New trade show will demonstrate how to cater for vegans
Historic exhibition and new branding for Dobbies
Exciting new-build garden centre underway
Bunnings - Homebase - sales drop by £44m
Glyphosate licence approved for 5 years
Situations Vacant
Area Representative/Product Merchandiser
Kent/Sussex area. £20k to £23k per annum
 
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So this is what a Bunnings Warehouse looks like...
No 20 Most Read Story 2017. First published: Sunday 5 February, 2017

The first Homebase store to undergo a Bunnings makeover opened for business in St Albans last week.

After a private “team event” on Sunday attended by 600 staff from across the UK and their families and friends, the Griffin Way store welcomed its first customers on Thursday with a ‘Sausage Sizzle’, a trademark gesture when Aussie parent company Wesfarmers opens stores back home.

Bunnings UK MD PJ Davis told Sunday’s gathering that the event was a thank-you for all their hard work in building the first UK new-look store.

St Albans is the first of a handful of 270 Homebase stores in the pilot scheme to test the company’s price-competitive retail offer on UK consumers. If successful, the rest will become Bunnings Warehouses over the next few years.

"Conversion will depend on how the first handful go – when we're happy with how they go we'll move relatively quickly," Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder told The Australian Financial Review last week. "It will take some time because there are 270 stores, but if we need to make tweaks we'll do that before we do a fast rollout.”

Some analysts say Wesfarmers is wary of a hasty foray into the British DIY market without proper testing.

Commentators in Australia regard the UK home improvement sector as 'sluggish' because of weak wage growth, the emergence of a “do it for me” culture thanks to the abundance of cheap labour and a lack of enthusiasm from today’s young homemakers.

On the upside, the UK economy remains in fair shape, with consumer confidence hardly touched by Brexit, and gardening sales have continued unabated. Bunnings has said gardening will be a key element in its UK stores. The St Albans store has a 19,000 sq.ft garden centre.

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