UK garden centre sector report a ‘very good’ September with festive sales already showing at member centres

GCA CEO, Peter Burks.

September’s Garden Centre Association (GCA) Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures have just been released and they show it was a ‘good month’ for members with an already ‘strong’ start to Christmas sales.

The BoT saw an uplift in nearly all the GCA’s 13 categories recorded at member garden centres and also revealed a positive year-to-date variance of +2.22 per cent.

Chief Executive of the GCA, Peter Burks says: “September was a very good month for our members with nearly all categories showing an increase, the notable exceptions being furniture and houseplants.

“Fortunately, the hot week early in the month prompted some strong late furniture sales and then it was packed away by most centres, so the negative impact it has been having all year was much reduced this month.

“Overall gardening was very strong. It’s great to see autumn planting going well and this positive outdoor trend was extended to hard landscaping, which also had a good month, at last. Yet again, food hall and catering sales showed impressive increases across last year. It was also nice to see early Christmas sales starting strongly.”

The best category in September was Christmas up at 31.72 per cent, followed by food hall/farm shop up 14.65 per cent, catering at 14.47 per cent and then hard landscaping at +10.67 per cent.

Clothing also performed well in September and was up at 8.88 per cent. As did pet & aquatics, which was +5.08 per cent when compared to August 2022.

Gifts were up at 4.22 per cent, outdoor plants at 3.96 per cent, garden sundries at 7 per cent and seeds and bulbs at 0.93 per cent.

According to September’s BoT results, houseplants were down -4.67 per cent, furniture and BBQ sales were -3.77 per cent and other miscellaneous other items recorded as -0.31 per cent.

The GCA 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.

The BoT reports allow members to compare their trading positions with other centres.

The GCA represents UK garden centres nationwide.

Through sharing information and its inspection programme the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality and reliability.

For further information, please visit: www.gca.org.uk