Garden centres benefitted from a surge of TV and Radio coverage in the run up to Easter. Bents, Barton Grange, Scotsdales and...
Garden centres benefitted from a surge of TV and Radio coverage in the run up to Easter. Bents, Barton Grange, Scotsdales and some smaller centres featured on national and local TV, radio and on-line coverage for Easter gardening.
On Good Friday morning Guy Topping from Barton Grange was interviewed live on BBC Breakfast News. Unfortunately we have not been able to find the links yet and no one at Barton Grange thought to take any photos of Guy in his moment of fame. If anyone finds the link, please let us know and we'll pass it on.
On BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester there was a broadcast about garden centres. It is trailed at 1.11 into the programme, followed by an interesting bit about the weather, there is a bit more around 2.20 and then the piece follows. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015svdj
It was good to see and hear that the Easter garden centre news coverage was more about garden centres dievrsifying to grow and suceed rather than the doom and gloom caused by the wintery conditions.
Congratulations should go to the GCA and their PR company, Porcupine, for acheiving these unprecedented levels of TV and Radio coverage for our trade. It's just a shame the good old British weather couldn't even deliver us a "normal" weekend!
GTN Xtra asked garden centre owners how they had faired on Good Friday 2013, one of the coldest on record. Read on for the thoughts of Martin Stewart, Jonathan Read, James Ducker, Neil Gow, Brian Archibald and Boyd Douglas-Davies...
Martin Stewart's tale of Good Friday trading at his garden centres in Dorset goes as follows:
"Apart from 2008 (which was the earliest Easter for 30 years) I think we are heading for the worst Easter since 1994.
Although Sales on Good Friday were down 24% in our centres (on last years poor Easter!!) the front door numbers were actually up 15%!! Our catering transactions were up 16% (surprise, surprise) and Gift and House Plants sales were up which shows that people want to spend. This is NOT the economy.
It's just gardening that suffered, down 45%. The trouble is that's what we really do need at this time of the year.
Just in our little way with just 2 centres it is heading to be about £90,000 down on a decent Easter in just 3 days. There will be a great deal of cash flow missing from our trade by the end of March.
I put it down to Guy Topping frightening the customers away on BBC Breakfast yesterday morning.
Lucky we are optimists!"
Jonathan Read from Podington Garden Centre in Northamptonshire reports:
"Good Friday was better than expected, but that’s not to say it was good, just our expectations were very low!
Had it not been for catering it would have been a ghost town. Giftware, books, clothing and planted arrangements were the busiest departments.
Saturday looking much better so far, again catering winning – however, more adventurous gardeners out today with gardening goods and lots of questions.
Sunday we are closed to the public.
We expect not just Monday, but the rest of next week to build on today – so long as it starts to warm up."
James Ducker of Langlands Garden Centres in Yourkshire tells us:
"Much better than expected Leeds was up on last year and catering was very busy in both centres."
Neil Gow reported from Fresh @ Burcot Garden Centre in the West MIdlands
"We have had at best an average Friday today, certainly not a Good one. However with still 6" on snow on the planteria, 4ft high tumps in the car park and 8 ft drifts on the road little wonder.
We had to get the Council out with the snowplough yesterday as the road was down to single track because of the snowdrifts as it was still blowing off the fields!"
In the South East, Brian Archibald at Coolings told us:
"Yes, another disappointing start to Easter.
Arthur’s held up well yesterday, followed by the shop and worst of all the plant area.
We currently have got light snow, so not expecting much for the rest of today.
If I was as incompetent as the weather forecasters I would be out of a job!"
And Boyd Douglas-Davies simply suggested we should take a case to trading standards over the naming of Good Friday.
"It's anything but Good!"
We get the picture Boyd. Good luck with that one...
The headline says it all...it’s tough out there, both from a weather and business point of view. No matter how you look at the current set of figures in the GTN Bestsellers data, sales volumes make difficult reading. And until the temperatures start to rise again it’s going to be a challenging period for garden centre retailers and suppliers.
The headline says it all...it’s tough out there, both from a weather and business point of view. No matter how you look at the current set of figures in the GTN Bestsellers data, sales volumes make difficult reading. And until the temperatures start to rise again it’s going to be a challenging period for garden centre retailers and suppliers.
This is how GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compare to the same week last year:
Garden Products – Down 42%
Veg 2 Gro – Down 43%
Growing Media – Down 68%
All items index – Down 39%
And if it hadn’t been for catering and wild bird care, which look to be even with last year on Bestsellers data – it could have been worse.
However, Gardman said this week that overall sales of their wildbird care products in the first quarter had soared by 17% compared with the same period last year. Energy suet products showed the highest growth. The significant increase in bird feed sales has also had a halo effect on feeder sales, which saw a 7.5% rise over last year.
Latest research from GfK reports that from January 2012 to January 2013, wild bird care product sales overall grew by 6.8% in value and 5.5 percent in volume.
Wild bird food accounted for 80% of total sales, with 20% for bird feeders and accessories. This increase can safely be attributed to the harsh winter. Some 40% of annual wild bird care sales value was seen in the four months from October 2012 to January 2013.
It will be interesting to see how Easter trading fares although the weather forecasters are predicting that the bleak conditions will continue into next week.
Let us know how your Easter weekend goes. Have you come up with extra restaurant promotions for the holiday period to tempt people in despite the cold? Email trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk
Wild bird sales are have soared in the current cold snap...
Wild bird sales are proving to be one of the beneficiaries of the current cold snap. Fat balls and suet treats have been selling especially well, which suggests consumers understand the need to give garden birds energy food in extreme weather.
Gardman said this week that overall sales of their wildbird care products in the first quarter had soared by 17 per cent compared with the same period last year. Energy suet products showed the highest growth. The significant increase in bird feed sales has also had a halo effect on feeder sales, which saw a 7.5% rise over last year.
The news followed a warning from the British Trust for Ornithology that the current cold snap could not have come at a worse time for birds. Natural foods are scarce, because seeds and fruits stores have been depleted over winter, while many insects are yet to appear, so more birds than ever are visiting gardens in search of a meal.
“With no indication of more seasonal temperatures any time soon, sales are likely to continue to remain buoyant in the immediate future so it’s an opportunity for garden centres and other retailers to ensure that they have in depth stocks of a good range of feeds and feeders, particularly high energy feed products,” says Jane Lawler, marketing director at Gardman.
And Rachael Dickinson, Senior Brand Manager at Westland, comments: “Westland witnessed an extremely strong start to the year for its wild bird care products.
"Our market first, bird care television advert campaign for Peckish was broadcast to more than 17 million consumers in January this year, delivering an impressive 143% monthly increase in Peckish sales, when compared to January 2012.
"Westland’s latest research has highlighted that 71% of the UK population either feed wild birds with food scraps (16%) or buy bird food (55%).
"Our aim is to therefore grow the category through both the Peckish and Nature's Feast's brands to make bird feeding more accessible for all consumers, from the novice through to the experienced.”
The GTN Bestsellers chart, which tracks garden centre epos sales every week, shows that wild bird care sales volumes were static last week – in reality, an encouraging sign during a period in which the weather slashed garden centre footfall.
Latest research from GfK reports that from January 2012 to January 2013, wild bird care product sales overall grew by 6.8 percent in value and 5.5 percent in volume.
Wild bird food accounted for 80 percent of total sales, with 20 percent for bird feeders and accessories. This increase can safely be attributed to the harsh winter. Some 40 percent of annual wild bird care sales value was seen in the four months from October 2012 to January 2013.
Although bird feeders and accessories accounted for only 20 percent of total sales, they achieved the highest value growth, , amounting to 21.8 percent. These latest positive figures for the total market come after a sales decline in the year from September 2011 to January 2012.
Richard Maden, GfK account manager said that this time last year the bird care category was reporting double digit value declines. “The category has now bounced back, with January 2013 reporting the best value figures within one month for over two years,” he added.
Latest GfK figures for February show the wild bird care total category (across bird food and feeders) up 3.9 percent compared to February 2012.
Good Friday’s BBC Gardeners' World screening of a visit to Ball Colegrave’s trial grounds was a huge PR antidote to the current gloom and doom.
Good Friday’s BBC Gardeners' World screening of a visit to Ball Colegrave’s trial grounds at West Adderbury was a huge PR antidote to the current weather-induced gloom and doom.
The BBC’s plan was to capture the diversity of summer colour, explain new breeding developments for bedding and patio plants and broadcast the programme at a key time for the bedding industry.
It couldn't have worked out better - 8.30pm on Friday29 March,the start of Easter weekend. Shame about the cold snap…
“We trust the programme will go some way to encouraging home gardeners to head down to their local garden centre over the coming weeks to buy their ‘Summer Colour’, said a Ball Colegrave spokesman.
The BBC film squeezed a full days' filming intojust a few minutes for the programme, but were still able to feature dozens of new and recent varieties
The company havd announced Monday 15 July to Friday 2 August as the dates for this year’s ‘Summer Showcase’
It’s a golden opportunity to evaluate the latest varieties in pots, baskets, containers and garden settings along with many existing favourites, review the past season, plan ahead for 2014 and network with other retailers and growers.
Big re-design changes are under way at the show gardens to demonstrate more experimental varieties than ever.
The GTN Bestsellers charts this week reflect that most people stayed indoors last weekend and tried their best to keep warm...yet one product is still selling well – Fito Orchid Drip Feeders!
The GTN Bestsellers charts this week reflect, as if we didn’t know it, that most people stayed indoors last weekend and tried their best to keep warm. The only product across all the Top 10s of the three weekly GTN charts that sold more volume than in the same week last year were Fito Orchid Drip feeders, amazingly up by 4% year on year.
While many products we’d expect to be selling at the moment sat on shelves instead of moving through tills, sales of some vegetable seeds did well and seed propagation products faired better than most. Our guess is that your really keen customers with greenhouse heaters are just carrying on regardless.
Gardman Gravel Seed Trays moved 12 places up the Garden Products chart to No 21.
James Wong’s Cucamelon Seeds from Suttons climbed 21 places in the Veg-2-Gro chart into the Top 10.
Creative Products Seeder also moved into the Top 10 of the Garden Products Chart.
The cold temperatures caused a spike in garden glove sales. Gardman have a new entry at No 20.
And despite the cold weather Kaemingk’s LED Solar lights sold more week on week to become the second highest selling garden product this week.
On the growing media front it’s a sorry stay-at-home picture. Top 50 sales were 68% down on the same week for the last two years and only 13 lines increased their sale week on week when you’d be expecting all growing media lines to be on the up.
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See the full GTN Veg-2-Gro Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only
See the full GTN Growing Media Bestsellers Chart here. Subscribers Only
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Professional food and drink buyers visiting next month’s Natural Food trade Show will be treated to a record number of new natural, organic, biodynamic, Fairtrade, free-from and special diet products for 2013, says organiser Diversified Business Communications UK...
Professional food and drink buyers visiting next month’s Natural Food trade Show will be treated to a record number of new natural, organic, biodynamic, Fairtrade, free-from and special diet products for 2013, says organiser Diversified Business Communications UK.
Returning to London’s Olympia on 7-8 April, over half of this year’s New Product Showcase entries, which currently includes over 250 products (up 20% on 2012’s total) have been entered into the food, organic food, drink, and special diet categories.
Of these four showcase categories for 2013, new organic food and drink products have the most entries of all. This rise in new innovations being launched onto the organic market reflects the continuing growth in the global sales of organic food and drink, which according to analysts Organic Monitor, has risen over 25% since 2008.
Despite the continuing economic downturn affecting all sales, this year’s Organic Market Report did announce some key areas of growth. Organic catering and restaurant sales, for example, rose by 1.6% in 2012.
Specialist organic suppliers, such as Ocado, Abel & Cole, Riverford, Whole Foods Market, Planet Organic, and many independent retail outlets across the UK, also saw a rise in organic sales (up 6.4% in the case of Ocado); with online sales now worth an estimated £4.1m a week. Whilst the under-35s, the so called ‘Jamie generation’, which account for 16% of all sales, are cited as having significantly increased their average spend in 2012.
Natural & Organic Products Europe, of which the Natural Food Show is a part, has been helping to launch new brands into the natural and organic market since 1997. As the only dedicated trade event of its type in the UK, the Natural Food Show, which features nearly 300 exhibitors from all around the world, is perfectly positioned to offer visiting retailers and foodservice buyers with a lucrative opportunity to stock their shelves (real and virtual) and refresh their menus with the best choice of new food and drink options for their current – and future – organic consumers.
The Natural Food Show, which includes two days of live cookery demonstrations in the Natural Food Kitchen, will take place on 7-8 April at Olympia London.
Above: Garden centre planterias have been quiet for the time of year in the recent cold snap.
With winter refusing to loosen its grip, the garden industry is relying on the release of pent-up demand to put sales back on track...
With winter refusing to loosen its grip, the garden industry is now relying on pent-up demand to put sales back on track once the much delayed spring finally arrives.
There is wide concensus across the industry that consumer demand for gardening, held back last year by rain and now by the cold snap, is likely to be strong when people are able to get onto their gardens again. Research has shown that interest in gardening revives when the mercury hits 15C – as it did in March 2012 and again, albeit briefly, in March 2013.
The GCA recently urged members not to lose their nerve and to be ready for the upturn when it comes. They’ll need to hang on to that advice for a bit longer.
Meanwhile, poor trading is already beginning to affect business fortunes. ITV News this week reported from Capital Garden Centre in London, where manager Tim McLeod-Rice has cancelled all orders for spring bedding and started to lay off staff at a point in the season when he would normally be recruiting, following an 80 per cent fall in sales in recent weeks. “This time last year we were in shorts and T-shirts,” he said. However, the centre did sell out of logs…. Click the link to watch the report. www.itv.com/news/london/update/2013-03-25/garden-centre-hit-by-wintry-weather/
Reports have been reaching GTN of other possible redundancies as centres count the cost of reduced footfall and low demand.
A knock-on effect on cash flows is now regarded as inevitable. Pre-season terms generally allow retailers to settle invoices in Spring when products have begun to sell. “The problem this year will be that retailers won't have been selling enough to cover the cost of the order,” said Neil Gow, director of GIMA. “I’m sure many will be finding it difficult to pay their suppliers.”
Gow urged retailers who find themselves in difficulties to keep talking to their suppliers. “The thing that unnerves a supplier is a customer who goes quiet,” he said. “If a retailer talks it through with the supplier, it’s reasonable to assume arrangements with a certain amount of flexibility might be possible – and he might avoid ending up on a’stop’ list, which is the last thing you want when the sun comes out and you find yourelf wanting more stock. It’s at times like this that relationships really matter.”
Despite the current gloom, that good old British sense of humour continues to put a veneer of stoicism on the situation as you’ll read in the story below…
Above: Once again, catering has come to the rescue of many garden centres.
Which garden centre and local nurseries are hoping for great things at Wembley next weekend?
Michael Smith - WD Smith, Andy Bunker - Alton Garden Centre and Peter Lodge from Bridge Nurseries get ready to blow the winter blues away with a trip to Wembley to support their beloved Southend United in the Johnstones Paint Trophy final.
"We've sponsored a 35 seater coach for the day and we are taking all the staff" Andy told GTN Xtra.
Southend are playing Crewe Alexandra in the Wembley final. Let's hope it's just a win for the Blues to cheer Andy and the staff at Alton's rather than them getting blue with cold again next weekend.
Tim Briercliffe is leaving the HTA after eight years to run the International Association of Horticultural Producers...
Tim Briercliffe, the HTA’s director of business development, is leaving after eight years with the associaiton to take up the post of secretary general at the International Association of Horticultural Producers.
The HTA say they will be recruiting for a horticultural manager following a review of their management structure. The new post will work manage the sector strategies and committees.
“Tim is well respected throughout the industry and will be greatly missed,” said HTA director general Carol Paris. “Our loss is definitely the AIPH’s gain and we wish Tim all the best in his new international role.”
Briercliffe will retain contact with his former colleagues as his office base will be at the HTA’s head offices at Theale.
Briercliffe, who leaves the HTA in mid June, has played a key role in many HTA initiatives over recent years, including the HTA National Plant Show; the HTA Technical Committee, Amenity Suppliers Group, Retail Suppliers Group, Cash & Carry Group, Manufacturers Group, Seasonal Plants Group and Seeds and Distance Selling Group. He brought under the HTA umbrella the Growing Media Association, John Innes Manufacturers Association, British Ornamental Plant Producers (BOPP) scheme and the British Heather Growers Association. He led the development of the Association of Professional Landscapers and HTA’s business improvement schemes and developed and chaired the HTA’s Growing Media Initiative.
Briercliffe commented: “My aim has always been to try and make a positive difference for businesses in the garden industry. It has been a pleasure working with members and the wonderful team at HTA to try and achieve that. My role has been exciting and diverse, working with the whole supply chain. I will miss the members and colleagues but look forward to continuing to help the sector, albeit in a different role with the AIPH. Continuing to be based at Theale will be a great benefit and will, I know, strengthen the HTA’s relationship with world horticulture.”
Colour your Life is a targeted promotional campaign to show consumers the value of plants and green space in their immediate environment...
It works through the consumer media to get the message out – in 2012 the campaign reached 300 million consumers across the 10 European countries where it was running (print insertions only – digital and web additional to this). It is a coordinated campaign, providing practical support to garden retailers too.
Colour your Life was established by Plant Publicity Holland in 2009 and financed with assistance from the European Union. Following re-organization, the campaign will be continuing in the UK, Holland and Germany from April 2013 with support from the Flower Council of Holland and the Dutch trade organization, Floraholland.
Following successful co-operation for the Colour your Life Award at the IPM Essen trade show in January 2013, the campaign’s new backers agreed on a calendar of promotional themes and plants. Specialist PR agencies have been appointed to roll out the campaign in each of the three countries.
The campaign will provide 15 press releases to the media in 2013, plus high quality plant images and additional supporting materials.
There will be six new YouTube films with consumer-friendly gardening tips, weekly social media posts and retail support too. Extra attention will be given to autumn planting this year, to help recruit new gardeners who may not be aware that it is nature’s best time to plant. The Colour Your Life campaign focuses on gardening on balconies and patios as well as in more traditional situations.
Colour Your Life is a storytelling campaign. With this in mind, the website www.colour-your-life.co.uk has been developed to provide practical, attractive and informative facts about the ornamental value of plants and their ‘added value’ benefits.
Pictured, left to right: Mark Long, Colour your Life UK Campaign Director, Remy Steijger, Project Co-ordiantor, Ruud Hiel, from Colour your Life NL and Peter Menke, Germany.
Because... it’s Easter, it’s very, very cold, and customers may be burning candles to save fuel. But at least they are feeding the birds! Here are the GTN Bestsellers Top 10 selling items...
Because... it’s Easter, it’s very, very cold, and customers may be burning candles to save fuel. But at least they are feeding the birds! Here are the GTN Bestsellers Top 10 selling items...
GIMA are inviting members of the gardening trade to take part in their golf day at Staverton Park in Daventry, Northants, on June 6 and raise money for great causes...
GIMA are inviting members of the gardening trade to take part in their golf day at Staverton Park in Daventry, Northants, on June 6 and raise money for great causes.
The GIMA Charity Golf Day is a proven way to: mix with your customers in a relaxed manner; build commitment with your own team; and get your business name and brands in front of your industry. And money raised from the event goes to Gardening Leave and Greenfingers.
There are three ways you can get involved even if you don't play golf. You can: offer your support by providing a raffle prize; take up a sponsorship opportunity; and book a table and enjoy an evening of entertainment and good company.
The day's events start from from 10.30am when bacon sandwiches and hot drinks will be served in the Club House. There will be two tee starts between 11.30am and 1.00pm. Golfers will be completing their rounds from approx. 3.30pm-6.00pm.
You can have a crack at “Challenge the Pro” on a par 3 hole where golfers will be invited to pay £5/head. Prizes of a FREE round of golf for 4 if you can beat the Pro will be up fro grabs.
After you have played golf or for those of you who don’t want to play, you can enjoy complimentary access to the pool, steam room, sauna and Jacuzzi.
Around 6pm you can join colleagues in the bar for the evening of fun and relax with a drink or two and talk about the day's events and how close you were to that hole in one!
In the evening, starting at 7.15pm there will be an evening meal, prize giving, raffle and charity auction.
To Play - Enter your 4 ball golf team for only £400. This includes golf, breakfast, practice range, evening and use of leisure club.
To Stay - Overnight Bed & Breakfast basis is at GIMA rate of £80.00/head.
To Dine - Join for the evening meal and entertainment £45.00/head.
Package costs: Team of 4 to play golf, enjoy the evening dinner and stay overnight for a package cost of £690. Team of 4 to play golf, 8 to dine and 8 to stay overnight for a package cost of £990.
Golf buggies are available to hire and need to be booked in advance and paid on the day direct to the club.
For further information call 01959 564 947 or email info@gima.org.uk
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 printed newsletter and on the GTN website www.gardentradenews.co.uk.
New for this year, every week we'll give sales volume comparisons with 2011 as well as 2012 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.
Access is by subscription only. For £120.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most upto date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales. To subscribe call 01733 775700, or subscribe on-line 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.
How are garden centres coping with the current cold weather? Stoically, and with good humour, of course...
How are garden centres coping with the current cold weather? Stoically, and with humour, of course...
Paul Cooling, Coolings, Kent: “If this weather and resultant lack of customers continues much longer you’ll find me hanging from a tree!.”
Brian Archibald, Coolings: “It has been a diabolical start to the season and Easter does not look promising. We are hit more than others due to the lack of covered space. However ,April was rubbish last year (30% down), so we keep our fingers crossed.”
Editor’s note: Because the plants grown on site represent a large precentage of sales, Coolings are classified as a farm shop and can therefore trade on Easter Sunday.
Jonathan Read,Podington Garden Centre: “I’m thinking of going straight to Christmas stocking now and skipping the rest of the year! Maybe we should have left last Christmas stock out.”
Martin Davies, Raglan Garden Centre: “I’ve been been looking through my weather notes. At the end of March last year I noted: big change in temperatures, dropped to 11C, poor trade. What I would give for 11C now!”
Chris Thorner has retired from managing Groves’ pet shop after 21 years...
Chris Thorner has retired from managing Groves’ pet shop after 21 years. Chris started with C. W. Groves and Son back in 1991 as the nursery’s delivery driver. A few years later he took over the running of the pet shop when Mike House retired from Groves. Ever since then Chris has build the pet shop up to be a vital part of the garden centre’s business, becoming especially important this year with the lack of warm gardening weather!
Groves Nurseries Manager Charlie Groves said “Chris has made a great success of the pet shop due to good old fashioned values, customer service and great business sense. He would never turn a customer away, it we didn’t stock it he would get it in”.
Groves’ pet offering will continue to be a strong as ever into the future as the running of the pet shop will now be taken over by Chris’ daughter Jo.
It cheered up the GTN Xtra team no end when fresh@burcot in the West Midlands sent us a picture of their Mother’s Day promotion...
The GTN Xtra offices have been inundated with reports from garden centres across the country of events planned for the Easter period, so it cheered the team up no end when fresh@burcot in the West Midlands sent us these pictures of their Mother’s Day promotion.
Owner and proprietor Nicci Gow told us Peppa Pig had proved to be great attraction for the Mothers Day Saturday children’s planting workshop. Now, they are hoping their Meerkat Saturday planned for 13 April, with a visit from some real Meerkats and their animal friends, will prove to be an equally big draw. Spring will have arrived then..won't it?
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company are advising retailers to stock up on Roundup Gel after a survey of gardeners who bought the product last year admitted they would purchase it again in 2013...
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company are advising retailers to stock up on Roundup Gel after a survey of gardeners who bought the product last year admitted they would purchase it again in 2013.
"Round-up Gel had a really successful time in 2012, winning many admirers and picking up industry awards too. So on the back of the product's tremendous sales performance we decided to do some market research on people who bought it," said Gary Philpotts.
"We surveyed 500 Gel buyers and asked them if they would buy the product again this year. 82% said yes.
"On the basis of this evidence we are advising retailers to stock up on this popular product because we firmly believe it will be another bestselling year."
As the most successful exhibitor in the 100-year history of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Hillier Nurseries will be back again in the Great Pavilion this May with new plants, exciting fresh talent in the staging team, and a stunning Garden Exhibit on the theme of 'Risk'...
As the most successful exhibitor in the 100-year history of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Hillier Nurseries will be back again in the Great Pavilion this May with new plants, exciting fresh talent in the staging team, and a stunning Garden Exhibit on the theme of 'Risk'.
Whilst Hillier was not at the first show, the nursery certainly participated in the early shows before the war, with the record-breaking run of 67 Chelsea Golds to date starting when the show moved to its present site after WWII. The design of the Hillier exhibit has altered over recent decades to move from the grand design of a single large garden to realistically reflect the size of most modern gardens.
The vast area of the Hillier exhibit is now broken down into a series of garden rooms or garden scenes from which visitors can take inspiration for their own plots.
Another significant change is in the plant material shown at Chelsea. Even up until 20 years ago, the plant materials was lifted from the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and brought to Chelsea for the Flower Show!
Today, the stock is taken from the beds of the commercial hardy plant nursery - including the large Living Label specimens - and trees are selected from the Container Tree nursery, which is home to semi and super-semi mature trees in up to 2000L airpots. This means that the stock visitors see at Chelsea is stock they could buy from hundreds of Hillier-supplied garden centres all over the country.
Darlac Ltd will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this May by attending the Chelsea Flower show for the 43rd time.
With half a century of market knowledge, and a full range of extraordinary garden products under its belt, Darlac Ltd will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this May by attending the Chelsea Flower show for the 43rd time.
The company promises to wow consumers with a stand that is almost double the size of previous years and with even more new and innovative products than ever before.
The name ‘Darlac’ has been synonymous with the gardening industry for many years, as has it’s owners Peter and Maggie Darban who are well known at the major horticultural shows they attend throughout the gardening season.
"We design real products for real gardeners,” explains managing director, Peter Darban.
“By combining our own love of horticulture with the extensive amount of feedback we receive from our customers we are able to produce really useful products which we know will be well received. I believe one of our main strengths and the reason we have succeeded as an independent business for so long, is that unlike other companies we don’t rely on data analysis or customer surveys; instead as owners, Maggie and I have always made a point of visiting the main horticultural shows each year to talk to customers first hand and find out what it is that gardeners really want when it comes to the tools they like to use in the garden."
To survive as an independent business for this length of time, and particularly in today’s climate is a real attribute to any business and Darlac has seen its trade business grow steadily over the years.
Darlac tools and accessories are now available at many independent garden centres and retail outlets across the UK and Ireland. Along with its quality products Darlac also offers attractive display stands with signage tailored to meet customer requirements. These attractive stands come with customer logo or brand name and will grace any shop floor.
Darlac launched itself into the marketplace back in 1963 with just two products; the ‘Screwless’ two pin plug and the ‘Korso’ flower holder. Both these products were so well received by the public that they carried Darlac into a whole new era of design and expertise with particular focus on horticulture.
More unique gadgets, and not always gardening related, soon followed including the ‘Ideal’ five skirt hanger the ‘Tailor Marker’ sewing aid, the ‘Roll Rocket’, painting machine and ‘Mower Mate’ sharpeners; all specifically designed to take the strain out of everyday living.
And it’s that ethos, which Darlac adopted all those years ago, which they continue to apply to every product they introduce to the market place today, that has really made Darlac the success story that it is.
“We truly believe our success is attributed to being out there and meeting the general public all these years," continues Peter. “We are constantly being told that not only are our products extremely good quality, but that they are realistically priced too, which is why so many of our customers over the years have requested our products in-store."
At this year's Chelsea, Darlac will not only be exhibiting it’s standard range of gardening products and accessories, but it will also be showcasing its latest brand the ‘Expert Range’, launched at GLEE in 2012, with the professional Gardener in mind.
Darlac Ltd now boasts a portfolio of well over 200 products, and an impressive ‘trophy cabinet’ of ‘Best Buys’ and ‘Consumer Awards’ - inspiring by any standard.
Notcutts are set to re-launch their online presence with a newly designed e-commerce website...
The 19-centre Notcutts chain is set to re-launch its online presence with a newly designed e-commerce website.
They say Notcutts.co.uk will have a ‘home grown’ look and feel, and will aim to open up the brand’s quality offering and horticultural expertise to a national audience.
The old website closed at the end of 2012. The relaunched offering will have a greatly extended range of products. “Stylistically, the site is clean and crisp, yet carries as much charismatic charm as the centres themselves,” the company say. Incorporating hand-written chalk boards, gardener’s notes and wildlife sketchings, the site offers “what feels like a personalised shopping experience, maintaining the intimate characteristics of an independent garden centre”. It will offer Free Delivery on all orders over £30.
A giveaway of 50 gift hampers worth £30 will mark the site re-launch.
Notcutts marketing director Minnie Moll said launching the origional e-commerce platform in 2010 was the first step towards reaching a national audience. “Our new improved website is all about improving the customer experience, and making it as easy and enjoyable as possible to shop with us online. We know how much our customers value our expertise, so we have really worked to deliver everything our customers love about Notcutts, online,”
