As Garden Centres keep expanding their product and service offering, the very term “garden centre” is barely keeping pace with the full extent of their retail proposition. The rise and importance of catering in garden centres over the last few years is well documented, and the standard of the various cafes and restaurants in many centres is unbelievably high. Whenever I visit garden centres and stop off at the restaurant, I never fail to be impressed by the quality and choice of the food and drink available.
More recently, the expansion into product categories such as clothing, cookware, gifts, art etc is equally exciting. With additional attractions such as mini-zoos, maize mazes, playgrounds, concessions, fairs and many other delights, spending hours at a time in a garden centre is easier and more enticing than ever.
As many of our high streets struggle to seduce customers, it seems that footfall in garden centres is on an upward trend, and the diversity on offer is doubly attractive to the customer.
We are lucky and delighted to be in a marketplace with such choice and opportunity.