The Latest Issue of Garden Trade News

Bank Holiday trading gets sales back on track

The May Bank Holiday trading period has given garden centres a welcome boost with sales getting back on track. In fact the All Products data for GTN Bestsellers shows that volumes year to date are over 5% higher than la.....

Mr Blueberry is a European bestseller

Mr Blueberry is not only a bestseller in the UK – topping the GTN Veg-2-Gro chart last week and securing No 16 spot this week – it is also popular across Europe.

It is a bestseller in the Czech Republic and also .....

Everything is UP! Even the Tulips!

Everything in the garden centre is on the up! Even the tulips in the Dutch bulb garden at Keukenhof have started to bloom – just three weeks late after such a cold start to spring.

So with gardens suddenly burs.....

There’s light at the end of the tunnel…

Does this week’s GTN Bestsellers All Products index really indicate there is light at the end of the tunnel? Sales volumes were just ahead of our prediction, keeping us on course for an aggregate volume sales performance.....

Make the most of the next 8 weeks

Some sunshine, albeit still cold, has started to turn the GTN Bestsellers sales charts in the right direction, and with significant warmer weather forecast for this weekend – but will it happen? – you never know the seas.....

Topical Top 10's

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 4 Topical Top 10’s drawn from the GTN Bestsellers weekly epos data:

Read the full article here

Temperatures down 20% Sales down 40%

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 read.....

Getting ready for March Bestsellers Bonanza

Garden centres are gearing up for a busy time in March with two massive events tempting consumers into stores – Garden Re-Leaf Day (8th) and Mother’s Day (10th).

This is a prime time to entice gardeners and their .....

Flower Council launch Almost-Mother’s Day campaign

Traditionally Mother’s Day is the ultimate occasion to give flowers. For retail this brings a sales peak but also an extra workload.

In an attempt to ‘stretch’ and extend the Mother’s Day event the Flower Council .....

Taylors dominate veg chart sales

Taylors Bulbs dominate the Veg-2-Gro chart with 23 entries, including eight products in the Top 10, as onion sets sell in volume.

Taylor’s Bulbs Stuttgarter, Sturon and Red Baron (pictured below) are at Nos 1, 2 a.....

The Greatest Christmas Awards get the thumbs up

Alison Shead from Brookside gives The Greatest Christmas Awards the thumbs up at a special party night in Harrogate on Sunday.

All the winners received their accolades during the event organised by Garden Trade N.....

All the latest news in GTN Xtra

Read all the latest news in the GTN Xtra e-mail newsletter, delivered to your in-box every weekend. See the latest issue using this link: http://tgcmc.newsweaver.co.uk/gtnxtra or e-mail your details to trevor.pfeiffer@t.....

Gardening up 30% in September

Sales of bestselling gardening products this month are running at 30% up on last year and 9% up on September 2010. And those increases in core gardening activity related sales are contributing to an overall sales volume.....

Olympians present The Greatest Gold and Silver winners

Full results and pictures can be seen in the GTN Xtra e-newsletter: http://tgcmc.newsweaver.co.uk/gtnxtra/1wyxdqqnvv4.....

Drip feeders on top for 5th year running

Since the GTN Bestsellers Chart launched at Glee in 2008, Fito Drip Feeders have held the No 1 spot for the middle week of September every year since.

Glee is definitely the place to be to find the ‘bestsellers’, .....

The Greatest Awards and Jubilee Doorstep Challenge judging nears completion

The final stages of judging for The Greatest Awards 2012 and the Jubilee Doorstep Challenge are coming to an end with the judging team making final visits to meet shortlisted teams and entries.

Despite the difficu.....

Bulbs give immediate boost to sales

Bulbs may have been a tad later than normal arriving after the wet summer caused problems with lifting and drying, but sales figures from the GTN Bestsellers Epos data show that customers are eager to make purcahses and .....

Gold Medal for Gardening

Garden centres fared well during the second week of the Olympics with the GTN Bestsellers All Products Index showing the highest sales volume for the second week of August for the last 4 years, 11% up on last year.

Read the full article here

Bestsellers Bulb charts on Garden Radio

Taylors Bulbs are helping their retailers sell more spring bulbs this Autumn with a brand new Bestselling ad campaign on Garden Radio.

Johnny Walkers and Garden Radio’s Geoff Hodge have been busy recording six bul.....

July sales volumes up 6%

An all too brief spell of summer weather delivered another month of sales volumes up year on year as GTN Bestsellers reports a 6% increase for July. With volume sales up on last year for 2 months running the year to dat.....

Bestsellers Tip of the Week

The first signs of the wasp season are noted in the chart this week four weeks later than last year; Vape Wasp Killer aerosol from Spotless is a new entry at No 49. Last year six wasp products featured in the GTN Bestse.....

"Heatwave" keeps hopes high

News of the Jet Stream moving north and a possible summer at last, to co-incide with the start of the Olympics, meant that garden centre folk were incredibly upbeat at both the Solex outdoor leisure show and at GCA Best .....

July starts wet, wet, wet

After being up every week in June, the torrential rain has finally got to everyone and the GTN Bestsellers All Products index drops below last year’s level for the first week in July. Let’s hope some warmer, drier weath.....

Brollies display does the trick at Coolings

Here’s an idea we like a lot. Coolings Nurseries at Knockholt, Kent, bought a batch of floral-motif umbrellas for an eye-catching display in the shop roof space, livening up an otherwise dull area and creating a compelli.....

June garden centre sales volumes 17% up

Garden centres have had a storming finish to the half-year.

Volume sales in the GTN Bestsellers All Products Index for the month of June – confirmed by the Met Office as the wettest and one of the coolest on recor.....

Anyone for tennis?

With one week left until the half year the GTN All Products sales index recovers to minus 4% year to date.

Will a warm Wimbledon week help move sales closer to our prediction of 3% down?

At Coolings they a.....

Another week up on last year

As we reach the summer solstice and with only two weeks to go to the half year another week of sales above last year keeps the GTN Bestsellers half year volume sales prediction still within reach and garden centre owners.....

TV appearance sets feeders flying off shelves

The award winning All Seasons Twist Feeder from Cranswick Pet Products was flying into gardens this weekend after featuring on BBC Gardeners World last Friday evening.

The unique feeder from the Nature’s Feast ran.....

New Christmas products from Yankee Candles

New Bestselling lines for Christmas 2012 were unveiled by Yankee Candles this week at their new distribution centre in Avonmouth, Bristol.

Last year four Yankee Candle fragrances appeared in the GTN Bestsellers Ch.....

Blown off course?

The strong winds and torrential downpours of last week have done their best to knock garden centre sale volumes off course as we move to the half year, but with 3 weeks to go the GTN All Products index stands at 5.6% dow.....

GTN Bestsellers Chart Correction

Thanks to the eagle eyed Mr Derek Bunker of Altons Garden Centre for bringing our attention to an incorrect product description in recent charts. “I can’t believe more Topiary shears can be sold than coco-liners” Derek .....

Smile...we’re close to GTN’s mid-year forecast

We have stuck our necks out over the past few weeks by offering the suggestion that,
despite the worst trading April in memory, there is still a chance that we can reach the half-year point only 3% down year on year –.....

Gel storms the chart

It’s always good to see an acclaimed new product fulfil expectations at the till. Roundup Gel appears to have done that in spades, adding some modest but welcome transactional value to the upper reaches of the GTN Bestse.....

Is this the lift we need?

Rising temperatures and blue skies during Chelsea Flower Show week have finally lifted the spirits of the gardening world. Following below-average temperatures and heavy rainfall throughout April and the best part of May.....

FREE entry for The Greatest Awards

Have you nominated your retail teams as The Greatest of 2012 yet?

This year The Greatest Awards, GTN’s team awards for retailing excellence will be presented in the evening of Monday 17th September, after the fi.....

Right Royal Phillip for sales

Garden Centre across the country are gearing up for increased sales over the upcoming long Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend. More and more requests to sign up for The Greatest Jubilee Doorstep Challenge have been flooding i.....

April washed out - 21% down

April 2012 can now officially be designated a gardening wash out month after GTN Bestsellers epos tracking data reports that total sales volumes are down 21% on last year. Indications are that garden centre revenues may.....

Easter Cools Expectations

The cooler weather mixed with April showers put a dampener on any expectations of bumper sale over Easter this year. The GTN Bestsellers index for the first of the Easter trading weeks is 17.2% down on the same week las.....

Garden Radio is Ultra Bug Clear

There will be increased sales of Bug Clear Ultra in Garden Centres that play Garden Radio over the next two months. At Easter a series of “infomercial” adverts about Bug Clear Ultra will start to be broadcast to the mil.....

Hands up to Terra Firma, gardening sales are up

Guy Hands and the team at Terra Firma could not have wanted a better start to the gardening season as they complete their purchase of The Garden Centre Group.

GTN Bestsellers epos data shows that sales of bestsell.....

1 up, 11 more to go...

Total volume sales up 3.6%, Garden Products sales up 11.7%, Growing Media sales up 87% and Veg 2 Gro sales static. That’s the year on year index numbers from The GTN Bestsellers charts for January. Another 11 months li.....

The Greatest Christmas Winners Revealed

http://tgcmc.newsweaver.co.uk/gtnxtra/xt58nf9mjtx Paste this link into your browser to see the GTN Xtra e-newsletter with all The Greatest Christmas Awards 2011 Results......

Autumn gardening prospects look good

Prospects for a good season of autumn gardening sales look good with growing media, alpines and bulbs leading the way mid August. This week’s GTN Bestsellers charts see a 3% growth on last week for the Top 50 growing me.....

Bee-Friendly twist for Bulb Sales

The addition of a Bee-Friendly logo on many Taylors Bulb packs and the announcement of the RHS Perfect for Pollinators plant list, has prompted some garden centres to build their bulb display around that theme as many ga.....

Did we miss a trick?

Given the high numbers of customers in garden centres during March and April and the drop off through May and June did we miss a trick by not working hard enough to get or customers back on a regular basis?

As we .....

Mystery creates opportunities

As part of the final judging process for the Greatest Awards this year over 20 Mystery Shopping and Dining visits were organised to really find out how good the shortlisted teams were when it came to a customer’s perspec.....

Regal Retailing

There was no escaping the British bash of the century last week as the second in line to the throne married his sweetheart. It would seem the public relished in picking up something special to commemorate the occasion, .....