Wyevale’s Rowena garden centre at Leicester is to get a potential new competitor right next door after APAC Group unveiled plans for a retail floristry centre on an adjacent site.

APAC, well known to the garden centre industry as a supplier of florist sundries, recently completed the construction of a £9m distribution centre on another part of the site, clearing the way for a start on the new project, which has had planning permission since 2015.

The new 37,000 sq.ft ‘factory shop’ style centre will cover retail sales of horticultural and garden products (with plants sold only from trolleys) as well as crafts, homewares, giftwares plus seasonal and party items, and will have a cafeteria and children’s soft play area. It is scheduled for completion by Christmas.

APAC, originally founded as a packaging company but now operator of 15 cash-and-carry outlets around the UK offering 11,000 product lines, is a major wholesaler to supermarkets and major garden centres.

MD Roger MacKay says the new project is a concept the company has wanted to trial for a number of years and will become the group’s flagship centre. He has been quoted as saying it will offer “products at the right price” and “considerably less than Wyevale is selling them for”.