2023 gave us plenty of opportunity to talk about the one thing the British love the most – the weather. Or the lack of it in this case. With a later than normal season, we’ve been busy playing catch-up and catch-up we did as when the season did begin, we saw gardeners come out in their droves, desperate to add a touch of green to their windowsills, balconies, courtyards, and gardens. Even when faced with a cost-of-living crisis, gardening remains a popular hobby. Whether connecting with nature, attracting wildlife to even the smallest space, or wanting to minimise food miles, gardening could be perceived as bulletproof. No matter what the world throws at us, gardening remains a beautiful constant.
Within this GIMA Digest, you will see 50 reasons why garden retail continues to thrive whilst we have waved goodbye to many of the high street’s best loved brands. As destination centres or hubs of their communities, garden retailers have the opportunity – and space – to showcase more, including different ways to create aspirational living that shoppers can recreate at home. The suppliers featured over the coming pages are ready and willing to arm retailers with new innovation, fresh thinking and trend-led content to meet this expectation. Think of this as your essential guide to curating a truly unique and exciting product offering, backed by carefully designed merchandising support and packaging solutions, throughout autumn 2023 and well into the next season.
Elsewhere, our industry is also helping to set the standard for sustainable practices. How could it not? Everything we do is about nature. Throughout the following pages you’ll see multiple new eco-friendly products, practices and promises. There’s still a long way to go, but we’re certainly ahead of the curve and proudly so.
On behalf GIMA and the garden retail sector, I’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone that has contributed to this edition of the GIMA Digest. Your endless passion for innovation and ensuring our market continues to set the benchmark for service, quality and variety will never fail to impress. We look forward to working with you again in 2024 and beyond!
Jenny Douthwaite
GIMA President 2023/24
