Clothing and houseplants were bestsellers at garden centres across the country according to the Garden Centre Association’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) report for November (2019).

Compared to the same month in 2018, sales in clothing were up 15.92% followed closely by houseplants at 15.38% up.

Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive explained: “It’s interesting to see non-traditional and traditional categories such as clothing and houseplants doing well at the same time of year. Items of clothing make great Christmas gifts, so it looks like customers were stocking up. The weather also became much chillier during November, so customers were also wrapping themselves up warm with new togs.

“The rise in sales of houseplants coincides with the introduction of festive houseplants such as Poinsettias, Cyclamen and Hyacinths and it looks like lots of customers were popping these in their baskets in order to bring some much-needed colour into their homes.

“Of course, there’s no surprise at this time of year that gift sales were up 11.48% and general Christmas sales were up 13.4% as people prepared for the ‘big day’.”

Sales in pets and aquatics departments were also up at 13.84%. Catering sales were up 10.54% and food hall and farm shop sales were up 8.26%.

Seed and bulb sales were up 3.97%, garden sundries sales were up at 5.26%.

Iain added: “Outdoor plant sales were down -5.82%, furniture and barbecue sales were down -10.61% and hard landscaping sales were down -19.3%, but this is to be expected thanks to the time of year and the weather.”

Overall sales for the month were up 8.63% with a year to date change of 5.99%.

The GCA BoT reports are compiled using actual sales figures and provide an up-to-date trading position statement. They are made available mid-month following the end of the prior month after all member garden centres have submitted their results.

The BoT reports allow members to compare their trading positions with other centres.