Clothing and food are big sellers during July

CLOTHING and food halls/farm shops were the big sellers during July (2015) according to our Barometer of Trade (BoT) results.

An increase of 16.96% compared to last year (2014) was seen in clothing while sales in food halls/farm shops rose 13.97%.

It’s great to see non-traditional categories such as clothing and food halls/farm shops doing well during July. Joining the two categories in the top spot was houseplants, which saw a rise of 13.93% compared to 2014.

Sales in outdoor plants up 9.09%, which is very positive considering the ever changing British weather we had through the month. Catering sales were up 10.38% and gifts up 11.14% so it was a good month for most categories.

Sally Cornelissen, Director at Burleydam Garden Centre in Wirral, which recently received the award for Best Garden Centre in the North West at the GCA’s annual inspections, said: “This July has been exceptionally good. We were concerned that the poorer weather compared with 2014 would be a challenge but strong performances from hardy stock, garden sundries and furniture sales coupled with the expected increase in catering turnover has delivered pleasing results.

“There is a definite rise in consumer confidence as illustrated by increased interest in high ticket items. We hope that this confidence will ride out hints of a rise in inflation in the light of the increase in minimum wage in October.”

Our BoT reports are compiled using actual sales figures and provide an up-to-date trading position statement. They are made available mid-month following the end of the prior month after all member garden centres have submitted their results.

Lauren Cocks, Marketing Manager at Coletta & Tyson Nurseries and Garden Centre in East Yorkshire, said: “We are seeing strong growth within our houseplant department, we have always struggled with strong competition from supermarket prices but it seems the tables are turning and customers are turning to garden centres to add colour and texture to their homes as well as their gardens.

“Catering is so important to our garden centre, people come just to visit our café now and it has meant we are no longer a garden centre with a café. To many we are a catering outlet in our own right. This means we have to keep improving our offering and keep it interesting for new and old customers alike.”

Our members see standards and profitability improve

We recently revealed there were record numbers of members receiving highly commended awards and awards of merit after our annual inspections and these have helped drive standards and profitability.

Sixty-three garden centres received a highly commended title and 150 received awards of merit.

We are absolutely thrilled to see a record number of our members receiving the ‘Highly Commended’ award as a result of their excellent performance in our annual inspections.

Our members tell us how beneficial the annual inspections are for them. As they don’t know when the inspections will be held it means they are always ‘on their toes’ in order to make sure everything is running to the highest level at all times. This ensures that customer service and retail standards are always of a high quality throughout the important spring trading period.

If garden centres are scoring 75% or above, as well as increased standards, members will also see increased turnover and profitability, which is a real benefit of being part of the GCA.

They can also benefit by using the awards for marketing their centres - in advertising, publicity, social media and on their websites - and this helps generate greater awareness and additional footfall.

In order to receive an award of merit a garden centre must reach 80% or above in any given category in the inspections.

It is great to see more of our members receiving these awards and this is a clear indication that GCA membership is helping centres to improve year-on-year. Being an award-winning garden centre offers assurance to existing customers and helps to attract new customers too.