Wet Weather Hits September's Garden Centre Sales

September sales were 1% down on last year according to the latest figures from the Garden Centre Association.  Of the 75 garden centres contributing to their Barometer of Trade, 34 reported that sales were higher than 2018, while 41 had experienced a drop.

The sales of seeds and bulbs failed to match last year, coming in at -7%. Plant sales were -6% lower and garden sundries fell -5% on the same month last year.   Gift sales also fell back by -1.5%.

Catering sales increased by 5% but the growth was lower than it has been in the last few months. This suggests that footfall has been lower in the wet September weather.   The other growth category was houseplants, which added 12%.

Despite losing ground in May (-7%) and June (-6%), GCA garden centres are still about 6% up for the year to date.

Source : Reproduced with permission from George Bullivant at GardenForum

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