Steady growth propagates an upside on previous years
Contrary to pessimistic reports of disappointing garden centre sales circulating elsewhere in the trade media, the GTN Bestsellers Epos data reveals encouraging news for retailers throughout the country.
The Bestsellers data shows continued week-on-week sales growth as we move from February into March. Sales volumes are in fact higher for the same week in both 2011 and 2010.
The really good news is that the current bestsellers are all core gardening products. That’s a clear indication that people are itching to get growing and laying the foundation for a good gardening year.
The weather may have turned colder again but that doesn’t mean lower temperatures are here to stay. Remember, last March when the country basked in 20-degree temperatures. Well, the month didn’t start out that way. A quick check on the Met Office website revealed that the first week of March 2012 was in fact on the cool side before the unseasonally high temperatures arrived.
So there’s no reason to be pessimistic about the next few weeks and months. The GTN Bestsellers charts are showing encouraging signs that gardeners are eager to make up for a disappointing growing year in 2012.
So make sure you and your staff are also bubbling with enthusiasm this spring.
