Good forecast puts retailers in buying mood at Classiflora Zelari

Buyers from hundreds of garden centres and retail nurseries converged on Classiflora Zelari at Waltham Abbey this week for the company’s 2014 open days.

The main display greenhouse was packed over a generous Italian-style lunch on both days to hear presentations by celebrity botanist James Wong and retail consultant Neville Stein.

James Wong offered retailers tips on how they can better connect with younger gardeners, while the theme of Neville Stein’s talk was how to improve retail sales (click here).

A plethora of tagged plants suggested that retailers were in full buying mode ahead of an encouraging mid-March weather forecast.

“We’re definitely buying today,” one garden centre told GTN Xtra “We’ve run out of trolleys for the first time ever and we’re going to need stock.”

The Greenfingers charity exhibited on both days to promote their current fund-raising retail promotions, including a Master Gardener secateurs deal from Town & Country, Sinclair’s J Arthur Bower’s Rose, Tree & Shrub Compost, Rosy Cheeks Trailing Petunia ‘Fanfare’ from Ball Colegrave and brightly-coloured glazed pots from Woodlodge.
Above: Classiflora Zelari MD Riccardo Castiglioni (right) in conversation with customers at one of this week's open days

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