RANGE REVIEW: AUTUMN & WINTER PREP


IT’S TIDY UP SEASON


The recent summer heatwave, although welcome, came with both positive and detrimental effects for the garden centre industry, Kiran Grewal speaks to retailers about its plans to move forward for autumn and winter.


D


espite UK online retail sales slipping to their lowest year- on-year growth in 2018 this July, with most


categories


seeing declines, the hot summer boosted garden sales, delivering a record 22.4% year-on-year increase last month. The uplift in July built on garden’s staggering 49.9% YOY


16 DIY WEEK 07 SEPTEMBER 2018


growth in June, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. However, the garden machinery industry suffered a drawback in sales, with a dry summer season causing dehydrated and hay-like lawns. Managing director of Cobra, Peter Chaloner, says: “It’s been a hard season for the garden machinery industry, with a cold start and dry


summer, but we are already seeing some positive signs of improvement. We’re confident that despite the broader economic concerns, people will continue to invest in equipment to help them enjoy gardening. “The autumn season is an important time for gardeners tidying and cutting back,” he continues. “With this in mind our broad range of equipment can really help. Petrol,


corded and cordless blowers are key sellers during this time, but we also see strong sales of hedge trimmers, pruners, multi-tools and brush cutters. Shredders continue to be popular during this time. Autumn really is the tidy up season. The winter months are very much focused around preparing logs with chainsaws and log splitters.” The sunshine had more people


opting for the beach rather than tending to their gardens, which suffered as a result of the drought, however


Peter says they have


turned a corner with this now. “Lawnmowers sales were hit very hard from mid-June through into August, although the recent rain is now helping the recovery,” he says. “The gains in sales earlier in the year have been eroded by the drought conditions, which affected the whole country. The South-East of England tends to suffer some of the driest conditions, which has the greatest impact on mower sales. We’re starting to see things lift again now though.


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