Our members saw sales of clothing and catering soar while
fluctuating weather saw plant sales rise and fall during March (2015) according
to our Barometer of Trade (BoT) results.
Houseplants were up 5.50% while sales of outdoor plants fell
-13.76%. Clothing sales were up 9.16% compared with the same month in 2014 and
catering was up 5.87%.
This time last year we experienced some fantastic weather, which
led to some impressive sales figures at the garden centres. It was always going
to be tough to beat this year as the great British weather is so unpredictable
so we have seen sales of plants rise and fall throughout the month.
When our traditional categories are being affected like this it’s
great to see sales of our non-traditional categories pick up the pace. Despite
the rain it looks like garden centre customers made sure they were kitted out
in the latest gear and stopped off at cafés and restaurants during their visits
for a spot of lunch, dinner or a cuppa and cake.
