In This Issue
Reasons to be Cheerful - Parts 1, 2 and 3
Garden Pride Marketing – New Ranges!
Fire destroys Strikes Stokesley Garden Centre
Gardman "able to provide a basic service and provide it very well" from Kings Lynn site
Can we catch up by the end of June?
Fryer's wins Blue Diamond Best Garden Centre award
How organic matter can enhance soil condition
Rivendell & Dukeries win Best Notcutts Performance award
Bicester-based E P Barrus Ltd adds WD-40 to portfolio
DCF invests in the horticulturalists of tomorrow
Bents donates more than £22k to Alzheimer's Society
Entry to GIMA Awards 2018 now open...
New study shows climate change is wreaking havoc on delicate relationship between orchids and bees
Squire’s teach children how to grow their own chips
Headline sponsor of National Garden Scheme contest
Children's cancer charity supported by garden centre
Kerley Primulas win RHS First Class Certificates
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Marathon run for Gardman Chairman
Garden centre manager jailed for stealing more than £30,000
Three suspected burglars arrested at Cheshire garden centre
Lawn care sales are a sign of what's to come
Too wet for growing – 12% up needed for next three months
Early Easter boost for tomato plants
New entries fill the gaps on bird care shelves
Tomatoes and herbs dominate veg plant sales
New appointment at Charles Taylor
New Mr Men Little Miss range from T&M
Great range of plugs and liners from Seiont Nurseries
RHS seed ranges now in over 500 outlets in UK
Association of Professional Landscapers appoint new chairman as Ken White steps down
The best of last week's
Owner sought for Home & Garden Group
New Blue Diamond centre takes £250k ex vat in first 7 days
Christmas department at Haskins Garden Centres now open due to high demand
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news. 

Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700



GTN's Greatest Christmas Awards 2107
are sponsored by:


and raise money for the Greenfingers Charity to build magical gardens at Childrens Hospices across the UK.


See GTN's photo tours of 30+ garden centres this Christmas including Bents, Barton Grange, Brookside, Castle Gardens, Planters, Scotsdales, Silverbirch, Ruxley Manor and Whitehall using this link


Reasons to be Cheerful - Parts 1, 2 and 3

 

Here's 10 Reasons to be Cheerful from the team at GTN after weeks of doom and despondency:

  1. Last weeks garden centre trading was above the average for the first week of April over the past 7 years.  Sales are heading back on track!
  2. We’ve had bad March’s before and that usually leads to a Mad May with big sales peaks around the May Bank holiday weekends.
  3. There will be a spike of gardening activity in the next two weeks as late spring plants and trees come into flower and grass grows at rapid rates.
  4. Customers still have money to spend – during the cold spell they have not been spending on the high street either.  As the new destination Blue Diamond Garden Centre shows, if they get out and go to a garden centre they will spend money.
  5. Having not re-stocked during March or April, after the spikes coming later this month and with the first May Bank Holiday garden centres will be needing to fill gaps on shelves and add potentially Bestselling new product lines to ensure they have the best chance to get their turnovers back up to parity with last year by the Summer.
  6. Mid May should be the time when the industries cash flows get back to normal, so orders for Autumn gardening, Autumn Wild Bird Care and Christmas Gifts will come on stream then.

 

7. Even the Met Office is now saying the weather will improve over the coming weeks: “There will also be drier periods with some sunshine.” Is their forecast for mid-April.  “By next weekend generally fine and dry conditions are most likely to be in place with above-average temperatures.”

8. Without a doubt more plants will be bought to be grown in containers this summer, more children will be encouraged to enjoy plants and gardens and there will be an explosion of gardening on TV around Chelsea and the flower shows.

 

9.  Analysis of EPOS data supplied by garden centres to GTN every week for GTN Bestsellers shows that generally when Easter is in April it provides a good sales benefit and when it is in March it only provides a benefit if the weather is exceptionally good. In other words we should not be looking at a poor Easter in 2018 as a sign of a poor year, just that Easter was at the wrong time and as always happens in the UK, gardening sales get going when plants start growing and that will just be a bit later this year and not at Easter as many would have been wishing for.
10.  The same amount of plants will grow - fast - when it all gets going and that will create new opportunities for sales.  The bold will make the most of that by ensuring their marketing gives them a loud voice during May while those who sit back and do nothing will miss out - just like they did if they were banking on Easter 2018!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Del.icio.us Digg | Comment (0)
Comment
Name:*

Email Address:*

Comment:*