association comment Dates for the diary


Garden Centre Association (GCA) chairman Mike Lind looks ahead to a busy time in the garden centre calendar


As the summer draws to a close and we move into the autumn, we’re all preparing now for a busy few months of autumn planting, followed by a hectic Christmas period. September is also a busy time in the industry


calendar with lots of events on the horizon. We will have a stand at Glee this month and we’d love it if members popped over to say ‘hello’ and if visitors dropped by for a chat to find out more about becoming a member. It’s the horticultural industry’s largest


exhibition and it’s a great opportunity to speak to us face-to-face and to also meet other member garden centres, who will be in attendance on the day. We will have information packs available for businesses interested in membership to take away with them, as well as being on hand to answer any questions people might have too. Another date for the diary is our annual Ruxley


Rose competition. We’ve recently announced the finalists and judging will be taking place this month. Twenty centres received top scores in the spring bedding and hardy nursery stock categories from our spring inspections and have now been put forward for autumn judging.


The finalists will now be visited by our judge


Michael Cole. He will evaluate how they are continuing to promote and sell plants during the autumn season. The centres will also be judged on the quality,


presentation and overall range of plants available, as well as the layout of their plant areas. Overall impression, access and use of demonstration areas will also be looked at. To add to this, staff at our member centres are being judged on their plant knowledge and customer care and service skills. The main focus of the competition is to highlight the importance of plants as a core product for garden centres and particularly this year as the planting season kicked off later due to the poor weather until March and April. We are looking to also keep the momentum up and demonstrate to consumers that the autumn is just as good as the spring when it comes to planting. A winner from each category will be


announced during our annual conference in January. Also happening this month is the Czech IGCA


Getting ahead of the trends


British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) housewares sector director Will Jones believes events like Glee provide valuable market intelligence


In an ideal world, we would all be fully clued up on everything that is going to be popular with consumers well ahead of when the next big trend hits the streets and customers are clamouring to buy. We would be able to plan, be strategic about


what might best suit our brand positioning or turnover most in any given retail location and we could buy, order or manufacture the most appropriate products in the most appropriate quantities, all with time to spare. Knowing – ahead of the curve - what is going


to be on trend is easier said than done, however. Using your very own trend forecasters is a serious investment for any business and accessing published research for every relevant product sector in the garden market sounds perfect, but could also prove expensive, unless of course you can go through a trade association like BHETA! For everyone who wants to know what’s up


and coming but may not have the resources or contacts to go it alone in the world of trend research, here are a few thoughts. Firstly, reiterating trends which might be worth some consideration – outdoor rooms and smart garden.


GCU September 2018 Alfresco dining is no longer just about serving


food outside courtesy of some decent garden furniture and a BBQ, this is now about the creation of fully resourced and styled outdoor rooms – lighting, flooring, heating, shelter, furnishing, and fully functional outdoor kitchen creations. Limited indoor space can be addressed by a


move to entertaining which takes place outside. This includes refrigeration, food preparation areas, fully fledged ovens, worktops, integrated sinks and drainage as well as the more obvious functional/decorative features such as stunning seating, firepits and pizza ovens. According to Mintel’s 2018 report on consumer


trends, smart connected devices are moving into the mainstream. Almost half of consumers who are not already in the market are now interested in purchasing and, of those, 26% said that could be persuaded to buy from the source which offered a free installation or set up/demo service. When it comes to garden equipment, Mintel’s facts and figures fit right in with what trend forecaster Scarlet Opus calls the ‘Eco 2.0’ trend which pushes clever, environmentally conscious, adjustable controls. Time to show consumers just how clever garden equipment can be.


So, apart from these two what else should we


be looking out for in garden retail? And where should we be looking? Well at risk of stating the obvious, it’s Glee time


and exhibitions are a perfect source of free trend information. Clearly an opportunity to look at new products, Glee offers much more in terms of seminar programmes and themed tours, focussing on up and coming or ‘hot’ consumer topics and how best to work with them. Day one (Monday September 11) features


three sessions led by award-winning garden journalist, Nick Bailey, featuring topics including: emerging trends in gardens, how to use garden shows, and ways to engage the youth in horticulture. Other ‘trends’ speakers include Charlie Dimmock on the themes she sees as the future, Romeo Summers on ‘happy gardening’, seasonal opportunities, technology in the outdoors, easy gardening for millennials and community engagement. Like many exhibitions, Glee will be food for


thought. Don’t just use it to source products and enjoy show offers, important as they are. Use it for market intelligence too. It’s free advice, so be sure to take advantage.


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Congress, which is a valuable event for sharing ideas on an international scale, and this time next year we’ll be welcoming the Congress to our shores again. We’re expecting 250 delegates from garden


centres from all over the world to join us in Windsor for the event on Sunday, September 1 until Saturday, September 7, 2019. The last time we held it was back in 2009, so


we’re delighted to be hosts once again and to be able to showcase some of the wonderful garden centres we have here in the UK. Our 2019 GCA Annual Conference will also be


upon us soon. The event takes place at Luton Hoo from January 20-23. Members will be able to book their places soon and we’ll be announcing speakers in the near future as well.


• For further information and if any garden centre wishes to join us, please call our chief executive Iain Wylie on 01244 952170. Alternatively, please visit www.gca.org.uk, log on to www.facebook.com/pages/GardenCentreAssociati on or follow the organisation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GC_Association.


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