Dobbies CEO Graeme Jenkins and Customer Director Louise Niven show GTN Xtra around their flagship Edinburgh centre.

Look out for the new, lower shop fittings that open up the store, the revamped restaurant and coffee shop (which will be moving to full waitress service when their IT systems allow) and an express check out.

15 years after Nick Seasby and his father Mick bought Mill Race Garden Centre at Aldham near Colchester they have decided to sell the business as a going concern.

Both Nick and Mick experts within the Aquatics business and well respected and recognized for being one of the best in the UK. They have 4 aquatics site, Harling, Rayleigh, Colchester and also as a tenant in Gravesend as part of the Millbrook Garden Centre site.

The garden centre business, which was extended by way of spending £750k on a new 5500 sq foot building (pictured above) in 2008, although profitable has not the attention it deserves and thus having reviewed all options they have decided to sell as an on-going concern. They still have confidence in the Colchester site and will still trade the Aquatics business here as a tenant rather than as a freehold landlord.

"We purchased the garden centre 15 years ago and have traded successfully and benefited from the loyalty of both customers and our team. We are however specialists in Aquatics and are aware that a new operator could do more justice to the potential of the team and the opportunity that exists on the site and in Colchester. We therefore wish to see the business transition to new ownership and a prosperous future." said Nick.

"The Garden Centre benefits from approximately 25 000 sq. ft. of internal space, an extensive planteria and coffee shop with access onto the river, and is located close to one of the fastest growing towns in the UK, it is believed that there is potential for the site to triple its current turnover.

"We have appointed Quinton Edwards to help us find new owners and they will begin actively marketing the garden centre as from this week.

"Please contact Simon Quinton Smith or Rachel McMordie on 01635 551441 if you would like further information."

In anticipation of a bumper summer with some fantastic weather, the Playwrite Group Plc are delighted to announce that they will be repeating their amazing offer on Bubble Wands.

One of our all time, best-selling summer toy lines, these wands are a proven high volume seller with many garden centres coming back to us for multiple pallets each season. Perfect for playing out in a sunny garden, these bubble wands are sure to provide hours of entertainment for both children and adults alike.

As with the offer last year, prices start at just 25p per wand for full pallet quantities of 20 cases. With a recommended retail price of 99p or even £1.99 “Buy One Get One Free”  you can easily turn a cost of £576 (including VAT) to an earning of nearly £2000! That is a potential profit margin of almost 300%

If you do not wish to commit to a full pallet, smaller quantities are also available.

If you would like any more information, please do not hesitate to contact The Playwrite Group Plc on 0207 6831288 or sales@playwritegroup.com.

www.playwritegroup.com

A new, state-of-the-art Welcome building at RHS Garden Wisley has been opened on June 10 by founding RHS Ambassador Alan Titchmarsh.

A bigger Plant Centre covering 5000 sq m will stock tens of thousands of plants and feature displays by specialist UK growers all year round. The RHS claim at Wisley they will be making a larger variety of rare and unusual plants available for people to buy for their homes and gardens than anywhere else in Britain.

RHS Greening Great Britain launched last month to encourage everyone to grow more plants across the UK to bring significant benefits to our health and the environment.

Alan Titchmarsh said: “Millions visit Wisley every year to be inspired by the horticulture on display and now the RHS flagship site will be a permanent showcase to celebrate specialist UK growers, just as it does at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and its other world-famous events. These plant specialists lovingly grow the rarest, most unusual and beautiful varieties in the world, which thrive in UK gardens because they’re so used to our climate.”

Country Garden Plant Sales (Dorset) will display ferns, including the new ‘Jurassic Gold’ which has golden leaves and can withstand very cold temperatures. W.D Smith and Sons (Essex) will display pelargoniums, many with unusual scents including orange, pine, rose and cola. A large range of dahlias, including some the size of dinner plates by Pheasant Acre Plants (Bridgend). Peonies by Primrose Hall Nursery (Milton Keynes), hostas by Stafford Lake Nursery (Woking) and acers by Credale Nursery (Herefordshire).

Alan added: “I promise to help Greening Great Britain by continuing to promote and buy from specialist UK growers. If the UK’s army of 27 million gardeners were to do the same, we would be protecting the UK from pests and diseases coming in from abroad; helping pollinators which need a diverse range of plants in order to survive; and supporting this vital industry that is worth more than £24 billion to the UK economy.”

To meet the growing houseplant trend, there will be more houseplants in stock than ever before. Houseplant sales at RHS plant centres are up 50% with non-flowering varieties up 64%. Plants with air-purifying qualities are selling well with sales in ‘snake plants’ increasing tenfold. Ferns are enjoying a resurgence and cacti are becoming even more popular.

The new Welcome building also contains improved visitor facilities including a spacious arrivals hall, a 100-seater restaurant, bigger shops selling gardening and artisan products and a larger café.

For the first time, visitors will be welcomed by world class horticulture on arrival with new landscaping by multi-award-winning Christopher Bradley-Hole. 250 native trees will be planted in and around the car-park and visitors will enter the 240-acre garden through an avenue of 100 cherry trees.

Once inside the garden, visitors can explore several new areas. Namely, the 75-metre long Wisteria Walk, The Exotic Garden and Heather Landscape with ornamental grass borders.

This is the first of three major projects that make up a wider £70 million transformation of RHS Garden Wisley. The second is the creation of the UK’s first National Centre for Horticultural Science and Learning, opening in 2020, and the restoration of its iconic Laboratory. The RHS is currently fundraising for the final £2 million.

CSY Retail Systems are delighted to be working with Martin and the Raglan Garden Centre team again, 10 years since we first implemented Vector there.

Raglan Garden Centre is an independent family run business in Monmouthshire, which opened in 1992. We first worked with Martin in 2008, but our systems were replaced when Wyevale purchased the garden centre in 2014.

When we found out Martin and his family were returning to Raglan, we could not wait to help and we are thrilled to be providing them once again with our reliable and powerful EPOS.

“There was a huge sigh of relief when the team were told that Vector 7 was being installed, one even commented ‘great no more queuing at the tills and frustrated customers’,” said Chairman of Raglan Garden Centre, Martin Davies.

“Having installed this system previously at Raglan Garden Centre I knew the enormous benefits Vector offered.”

• CSY focus on ease-of-use at the point-of-sale.  “The terminals are compact and fit well with the look of the centre. The system is very user friendly and our till operators quickly learned the process of using the POS terminals, using them with confidence the same day we opened.”
• In a busy garden centre, like Raglan, we know it is important for all stock information to be correct and up-to-date. “The real-time information was a key decision maker in returning to Vector, having the back office functionality and the ability to look at stock, sales etc. at any time is invaluable.”
• CSY always aim to minimise that the business impact when we are installing a new EPOS system.  “We anticipated a lot of disruption as this was a complete system change throughout the centre and office, but CSY worked in the background and I am pleased to say there was no system down time or any technical issues. Communication pre-install was excellent, which prepared us for the arrival of the CSY team and equipment.” said Martin.
• With a dedicated account manager, project manager, in-house helpdesk and onsite training we were able to mobilise quickly to make sure the centre went live smoothly. “Having used the Helpdesk Live Chat option in the past week I was amazed at the speed of the response which immediately answered my question,” said Karen Hughes, Operations Director at Raglan Garden Centre. “The installation team were extremely professional and supported our teams providing one to one training during the visit.”

“Overall the system meets all our requirements and access to the CSY team is great. I would strongly recommend Vector 7 to any retailer looking for a fast and efficient EPOS system,” adds Martin Davies.

https://www.csy.co.uk/our-customers/garden-centres-epos/

0115 948 4848

CSY Retail Systems, CSY House, 9-10 Chase Park, Nottingham, NG2 4GT

Zest 4 Leisure is gearing up to showcase its range of quality decorative timber garden products, furniture and BBQ shelters for 2020 at the upcoming SOLEX exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham.

The award-winning company manufactures and sources FSC Certified timber garden furniture, fencing and outdoor living products and is renowned for its innovative timber garden ranges.

Commenting ahead of SOLEX, Steve Morgan, Zest 4 Leisure’s Managing Director said:

“We are really looking forward to returning to SOLEX for the sixth year in a row. It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase not just new products but also some of our most popular. It also gives us the chance to talk to customers about the many changes we’ve made to the business over the past year. These improvements have laid a firm foundation for the future which will enable us to support their needs whilst offering an even wider choice of products.”

Zest 4 Leisure will be highlighting some of its most popular outdoor dining sets at Solex including the Harriet Table and Two Bench Set. With Bavarian style influences, the table and benches feature smoothly curved crossover legs giving it an elegant and more sophisticated look.

Zest 4 Leisure will also be showcasing the best seller, Lily Relax Double Seat. Ergonomically designed, the cleverly angled back and armrests offer supreme comfort and somewhere to place a drink when relaxing in the garden. It can be combined with the separate Lily Relax Foot Stool for ultimate relaxation and other items in the range to make a set.

New products for 2019 season will also be on the stand, including the new concept Noah’s Arbour; the Christina Set, complete with cushions; and the Maisie Set which was a finalist at the 2018 Glee New Product Awards.

Talking about product design and innovation, Steve commented:

“For the last 12 months we have worked in conjunction with Cardiff Metropolitan University on product development and innovation, and concentrated on taking into account future trends. We have also developed new animated assembly videos for our most popular lines which can be used alongside the more traditional guides. This was in direct response to customer feedback and there are more videos in the pipeline.”

You can visit Zest 4 Leisure and the team at SOLEX stand 310 to learn more about its extensive range of quality timber garden furniture and BBQ shelters.

Peter Seabrooks five pyramids of flowers, featuring 100 new plants, is the central showpiece of the Floral marquee at BBC Gardeners World Live! which opened at the NEC today.

The show, which is a festival for viewers of the TV programme and readers of the magazine, features superb show gardens, beautiful border ideas, seminar and demonstration theatres and many trade stands who aretaking the opportunity to increase brand awareness and drive sales to retail.  GTN Xtra spotted: Plantworks, Mr Fothergills, Hozeleock, Town & Country, Patio Black Spot, Pouff Daddy, Natural Grower, Handy Distribution, Gardena and Bramblecrest.  Westland sponsored the Pyramid displays and the Pyramid Stage.

A notable other retail exhibitor is M&S, selling hydrangeas, orchids and other plants.

See our gallery of photos from last nights press preview below.

Peter Seabrook describes many of the new plants as having "great energy" and as a result are vigorous with long flowering periods which should make them ideal plants for garden centre sales.

The list of new plants featured in the pyramids is here:

Agapanthus ‘Fireworks’

Supplied by: Thompson and Morgan

Ajuga tenorii ‘Princess Nadia’

Supplied by: Thompson and Morgan

Alstromeria ‘Summer Breeze’, ‘Summer Red’ and ‘Summer Sky’

Supplied by: Hilverda Kooij

Alstroemeria ‘Inticancha Imala’ , ‘Inticancha Red’ and ‘Inticancha Romance’

Supplied by: Hilverda Kooij

Angelonia Serena® Rose

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Bacopa ‘Pinktopia’

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Petchoa Beauticial ‘Sunray’ pink, ‘Caramel’ yellow, ‘Bordeaux’ red, ‘French

Vanilla’ and ‘Cinnamon’

Supplied by: Sakata

Begonia ‘Sweet Spice Bounty’

Supplied by: Kerleys

Begonia x bonariensis ‘Big Rose Bronze Leaf’

Supplied by: Benary

Bella Fuchsia ® Sophia

Blueberry ‘Pink Flamingo’

Supplied by: Suttons

Buddleja davidii ‘Butterfly Tower’

Supplied by: Thompson and Morgan

Calibrachoa Kabloom®

Blue Cherry Coral Denim Light Pink Blast

Orange Pink White Improved Yellow

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Chilli ‘Spicy Jane’

Supplied by: Suttons

Chlorophytum saundersiae ‘Starlight’

Supplied by: Thompson and Morgan

Clematis ‘Little Lemons’

Supplied by: Thompson and Morgan

Cosmos Sulphureus ‘Mandarin’

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Delphinium ‘Cinderella’

Supplied by: Suttons

Dianthus ‘BEAUTIES’

Supplied by: Hilverda Kooij

Digitalis x valinii ‘Firebird’

Supplied by: Farplants

Dryopteris ‘Jurassic Gold’

Supplied by: Seiont Nurseries

Echinacea ‘MOOODZ’

Supplied by: Hilverda Kooij

Fuchsita ‘Pink Violet’

Supplied by: Volmary

Gerbera Garvinea ‘Sweet Fiesta’

Supplied by: Florist

Gerbera Garvinea ‘Sweet Frosting’

Supplied by: Florist

Gerbera Garvinea ‘Sweet Love’

Supplied by: Florist

Gerbera Garvinea ‘Sweet Memories’

Supplied by: Florist

Gerbera Garvinea ‘Sweet Sunset’

Supplied by: Florist

Helianthus ‘Sunbelievable Brown Eyed Girl’

Supplied by: Thompson & Morgan

Impatiens, F1 Beacon™ ‘Coral’ , ‘Orange’, ‘Salmon’, ‘Violet’, ‘White’ And ‘Bright Red’

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Ipomoea batatus ‘Sunpuma Purple’

Supplied by: Suntory

Laburnum ‘Yellow Rocket’

Supplied by: F. P. Matthews

Lavandula stoechas Bandera ‘Deep Rose’ And ‘Deep Purple’

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Leucanthemum ‘Madonna’

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Malus ‘Eden’

Supplied by: F. P. Matthews

Malus toringo ‘Aros’

Supplied by: F. P. Matthews

Myosotis sylvatica Mon Amie ‘Mix’ and ‘Pink’

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Nemesia ‘Lady Penelope’

Supplied by: Farplants

Nepeta ‘Neptune’

Supplied by: Thompson and Morgan

Nepeta ‘Purrsian Blue’

Supplied by: Allensmore Nurseries Ltd

Osteospermum ‘Purple Sun’

Supplied by: Selecta One

Osteospermum Akila® Sunset Shades

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Pelargonium x hybrid ‘Calliope Hot Pink’ and other Calliope cultivars.

Supplied by: Syngenta

Petunia F1 Spreading Easy Wave® Lavender Sky Blue

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Petunia ‘Tumbelina Crazy Ripple’

Supplied by: Kerleys

Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Silver Ball’

Pink 'Bridal Star’

Supplied by: Whetman Pinks

Alpine Pink 'Flutterby’

Supplied by: Whetman Pinks

Pink 'Pink Ruffles’

Supplied by: Whetman Pinks

Pink 'Red Carpet’

Supplied by: Whetman Pinks

Rose ‘Timeless Cream’, ‘Timeless Pink’ and ‘Timeless Purple’

Supplied by: Whartons

Salvia nemorosa ‘New Dimension Rose Improved’ And ‘Salvatore Blue’

Supplied by: BallColegrave/ PanAmerican Seed

Sedum ‘Atlantis’

Supplied by: Suttons

Toona sinensis ‘Beef and Onion’

Supplied by: Suttons

Xerochrysum bracteatum ‘Granvia Gold’

Supplied by: Suntory

For further information about the Plant Pyramids contact Peter Seabrook: peter.seabrook@btinternet.com

BBC Gardeners World Live! runs until Sunday 16th June at the NEC.  www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com

The Greatest Awards winning houseplant team at Aylett Nurseries have always been passionate about houseplants, keeping a full houseplant “house” throughout the past 10 years.

“Houseplant sales have grown in the past few years and now account for 6% of our total turnover, we were and still are passionate about housplants” said Julie Aylett.  “The sales mix has changed recently with foliage plants outselling flowering plants.”

Having said that when you have the space to put on displays of flowering houseplants of the quality of Ayletts it’s no surprise that those sales are increasing for them too.

Even though they don’t run an Instagram account at Aylett’s, Kathy Sanger, department manager, explained: “They come up with their list from google and from which plants since they say first pyou know what the next plants are going to be”.

Whilst the Aylett houseplant are has the look and feel of a traditional garden nursery greenhouse that doesn’t stop them stocking a selling new houseplants.  Plants grown on lava rock is the latest new addition from the continent.  Within 5 days of then going on sale half had already sold through!

Aylett Nurseries are also at the fore front of sustainable garden retailing with many displays highlighting recycling, re-use and organic gardening products.

In-Excess, who added four ex-Wyevale garden centres last Autumn are pulling up trees at their existing Ringwood site.  

The team have increased turnover to £4m with a mix of discount value retailing, own brand products and quality plants.

Out in the planteria they are able to maintain high plant quality really easily on a sloping site by building bespoke plant benches with plastic watering trays fitted in to avoid the need to water from above for most of their stock. According to their David Austin rep they have the best kept display in the area as a result.

N1 Garden Centre is often talked of as the place to watch for new trends in houseplants and a visit to the small centre, squeezed in between terraced houses on the edge of the Hoxton area of North London explains all. 

It is a houseplant paradise, brimming full of plants including some rare and exotic varieties. No wonder their website says they are: Making London an urban garden, one home at a time.

Creative Director, Paul Holt, told us that 20 years ago, when the business started, houseplants were only a fraction of the centre, now they occupy all of the “inside” retail area and trade is brisk.  “Our customers really love and care for their houseplants so we are always looking for new plants to offer them. We also make sure our pot range is very special, sourcing them from many suppliers not found in usual garden centres.”

An example of the specimen plants at N1 when we visited were variegated Cheese Plants that were on sale for £350.  “We can’t get enough of these.” Paul explained.

Houseplants are on trend and sales are on the increase.  GTN Xtra has been on the trail of the garden centre houseplant sales phenomenum to unearth great sales ideas and trends that are driving younger customers into garden centres like never before.

Elsewhere in this issue we feature pictures and ideas from Aylett Nurseries, Stewarts Christchurch, Perrywood, Whitehall Lacock and the London houseplant trend leaders N1 Garden Centre but we started our journey of houseplant discovery at Notcutts Norwich, the biggest Notcutts centre for houseplant sales and now one of the Top 10 garden centres in the UK for houseplant sales.

We first spotted the big change in the Notcutts Norwich houseplant area last Christmas, it’s quite different from a traditional garden centre houseplant department, funky industrial style racking that is stacked full of plants, plus loads of hanging houseplants create an inspirational plant forest effect.

Colin Dale, Category Manager for Plants and Garden at Notcutts explained that the inspiration came from his daughter two and a half years ago.  “She was then 23 and she came to me asking to go to the garden centre to buy some houseplants. Now that is not the sort of thing I expected from my daughter at all. There's something really strange here. What she bought were succulents and things like sanseverias. It's all the trend she explained to me, it's all on social media.

Read the full interview in the June issue of GTN using this link: https://issuu.com/gardentradenews/docs/gtn_june_19_digital_version

At Perrywood, houseplant sales are booming. 

With an Instagram account unique to houseplants, perrywoodhouseplants, driving people to the centre from as far afield as central London, the team watch trends from other centres, N1 in particular, and make sure they have as many new plants available as possible.

Their unique houseplant room sets, this year with clever planting right into the props, gives existing customers plenty of inspiration to buy more houseplants.

The importance of Instagram for their houseplant sales is explained by Zoe Willis: “We get so many questions through Instagram daily and then when we've had a delivery in and we put up a post everyone wants to know; can I come and get them and how much are they?”

“I have an Instagram account, zoeshouseofhouseplants, myself and I've got 5,000 followers. I think it's an amazing community to meet people, find out about different plants and get advice. I get so excited about it.”

Perrywood have also been making the most of aspiring houseplant owners wanting to ensure the watering of their precious plants is as easy as possible.  Using in-store sales demos and Instagram videos they are driving good sales of the Elho Easy Watering pot inserts.

At Plymouth Garden Centre, the only one we've visited that has a drawbridge as part of the entrance structure, they make the most of every plant and pot sales opportunity, even with popular Blueberry plants.

They also take great care on which greetings cards to stock and as a result sell over 65,000 cards a year. 

Nick Oliver at St Johns Ashford leaves customers in no doubt that the centre has different owners, they bought the centre from Wyevale last year, and at the same time underline their planty background.

St Johns original site in Barnstaple doesn't offer a childrens menu, just child sized portions of their main menu, which can also be ordered by "customers with smaller appetites." It is a huge success for them.

Stewarts Christchurch win the GTN Award for the most in-store trolley parks and the best use of trolley park space. 

Every trolley park was also being used as a merchandising unit meaning more could be deployed across the centre to ensure customers could easily find that trolley as soon as the need one.

Compared to some other garden centre houseplant areas Stewarts Christchurch is relatively tiny, but because they pack so much in they create a tropical forest effect which entices people to stop and but on their way into the centres and on their way to the tills.

In April, houseplant sales across the three Stewarts garden centres were up by 23%, and that was on top of good increases last year.

As well as a good range of pot covers, Stewarts also had available a good range of small tables and plant stands, a much needed extra purchase when you want to add more plants and you’ve run out of windowsill and shelf space to put them on.

The GTN team are always looking for innovative items on garden centre menus and at Whitehall Lacock we found the most delicious ‘Moving Mountains Plant Based Burger’ in the Lavender Lodge Restaurant. 

Top marks for taste and top marks for emphasising the plant-based items on the menu of a garden centre restaurant.  We can’t wait to go back again and try more.

What a spectacular entrance to the furniture department at Whitehall Lacock, an idyllic spring garden setting created with backdrop and props.  It matches the cover of Whitehall’s Beautiful Gardens magazine too!

Houseplant sales are 50% up at Whitehall Lacock. Peter Self says’ “It’s all about green architecture.  Every time we order some bigger plants they just sell though.”

“Sales had been flat up to a couple of years ago and slowly the momentum has built. The Instagram generation is leading the way.”

Calatheas have been particularly good sellers for the Whitehall team who are also amazed at the number of macramé pot hangers and cover pots they are selling.

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Billed as "Farnhams Favourite Garden Centre", Forest Lodge has loads of competitors around them so it’s no surprise they are giving themselves an edge by stocking wide ranges of products - really deep gardening ranges and plants with the extra dimension of Garden Style plants where large specimens can be bought by gardeners and landscapers alike.

In garden furniture Forest Lodge report good early sales, particularly the small corner weave sets and the metal framed lower couch style furniture from Life “it’s appealing to the younger audience looking for some style on their patio”

The extended Forest Lodge restaurant has a wonderful conservatory feel overlooking the extensive Planteria. With friendly staff and a great menu no wonder this is a favourite destination for many.

See GTN Xtra's Photo Tour, taken at the start of April 2019.

Having completed the purchase of their second garden centre at Hilgay on the A10 near Downham Market the Baytree family team held their Grand Opening Event this weekend.

Baytree MD, Jutta Whitworth Biehler, told GTN Xtra: "I’ve never spent so much time cleaning as we have over the past six weeks. Getting a five star inspection this week was a brilliant result for everyone’s hard efforts."

The garden centre and farm shop has been fully stocked with all the immediately useable retail space spruced up and Baytree merchandised. Sales have been growing every week and early furniture an BBQ’s are above expectations.

The 260 seat Oak framed Barn table service restaurant is a wonderful asset - it’s fully booked every Sunday- that will enable Baytree to pull good footfall and develop increase product and plant sales.

The car park has already been resurfaced and extended, a new Entrance is being constructed off site to add some theatre at the front door. With other buildings that can be used for retail along with a coppice and grass paddock on the 10 acre site Hilgay could quickly become another destination venue for the Baytree team.

See GTN Xtra's photo tour of the centre taken on Friday afternoon as the team completed their set up work for the Grand Opening Weekend.

Alan Roper welcomed staff and suppliers to an evening event on Monday 15th April at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre to celebrate the completion of the refurbishment from a Wyevale Garden Centre that they bought last summer to a Blue Diamond Centre that is ready and raring for Easter 2019.

"Welcome to Bicester. The new Bicester. The best manifestation of Bicester in its history since it was built, I think you'll agree. We've been refurbishing many of the ex-Wyevales:  Cadbury has been going through some refurbishment, Nailsworth, my old centre has been completely finished and Endsleigh in Devon is being done currently.  It's about to start at Weybridge with a new restaurant and at Melbicks. We're working on all the ex Wyevales to get them to a standard."

See GTN Xtra's photo tour of the refurbished centre below

What would you expect from a Hillier centre? Authoritative ranges of products and plants, crisp merchandising, and expert staff. That’s exactly the delivery at Botley plus there’s the Rosemary and Thyme restaurant concept that is now being rolled out across the Hiller estate of centres. This classy, counter ordered but table served concept will be a huge benefit when the Wyevale centres just purchased get an upgrade from their current Garden Kitchens.

Out in the Planteria the customer care extends to trees where the team retain the use of their Christmas tree netting equipment to net all trees purchased to help customers get their valuable trees home safely.

In garden care they were selling plenty of grow houses with displays that included the Veg Trug wooden version at £99. At Botley they were still to sell one of the Veg Trug versions when we visited at the start of April - it’s a spot on Hillier customer product but time will tell to see if people want a more expensive wooden framed grow house.

See GTN Xtra's Photo Tour taken at the start of April 2019

Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts and weekly bestsellers sales tips.

The full charts which provide useful insight into product sales peaks, new trends and new link sales opportunities are published in the weekly GTN Xtra newsletter.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2017 as well as 2018 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most up-to-date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.

Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Garden Plants Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Wild Bird Care chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro chart for this week are here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts seriously improve the business of our subscribers.  Invest 15 minutes each week in improving your sales using the GTN Bestsellers charts and your turnover and customer satisfaction will improve too.

Get the GTN Bestsellers charts in full every week in the GTN Bestsellers newsletters for only £145.00.

GTN Bestsellers is the only industry source of weekly garden centre sales information, collating Epos data from centres with an aggregate turnover in excess of £120m.

Use the weekly Garden Products and Growing Media Top 50 sales volumes charts to plan your hotspot and other promotions and ensure you have the right products in stock to satisfy the needs of your customers.

For further information contact karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call 01733 775700.

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