Sales volumes for the first part of the late May Bank Holiday weekend indicate that we may have to work very hard to keep the year-on-year increase momentum going.

Last week’s Epos data provided to GTN Bestsellers shows garden centre volumes to be down on both 2012 and 2013 for the first time this year.  

With a deluge hitting most of the country during half-term the chances are that volumes will also be down year-on-year for the second half of the Bank Holiday weekend - that is usually the peak of the first half of the year.

There is still plenty of scope for sales to achieve our prediction of 6% up on last year at the end of June, but it may not happen if we don’t have plenty of summer promotions and events running to keep customers visiting.

Plants and garden products are still selling well, however it may need a rush of summer furniture and BBQ-related sales to make up the difference.

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year

• Garden Products – up 12%
• Veg 2 Gro – down 32%
• Growing Media – down 17%
• All items index – down 8%

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