The hot weather of the past few weeks has helped to boost business at garden centres throughout the country, as July ended with footfall and transactions up by 24% in the same period in 2012.

Garden product sales tailed off in the last week to normal July levels but GTN Bestsellers have been hearing reports of garden centres having achieved good monthly revenue figures. These reports back up GTN Bestsellers Epos data, as you can see from the chart right, which shows that July volumes have exceeded those of the previous four years.

Although gardening sales have tailed off, certain items are still performing well as gardeners try to spend as much time as possible in their gardens. Items like furniture, barbecues and other Summer related products are in high demand.

Catering at garden centre cafés and restaurants is also thriving. Let us know how footfall at your centre is holding up. trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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

• Garden Products – down 16%
• Veg-2-Gro – down 6%
• Growing Media – down 2%
• All items index – up 15%