EVENT REVIEW: GLEE 2021


ready and willing to place orders. There is such a thirst for gardening and


retailers


are engaged with


diversifying their product offering to keep this momentum going. We’ll definitely be back next year.” The positive sentiment was echoed by visitors.


Paul Smith


of Chessington Garden Centre explained: “It’s great to be back at Glee, it’s been a long time coming and the whole organisation of the event has been really good, especially given the challenges. What we’ve really found encouraging is


number of new suppliers we’ve seen. That has definitely made our visit worthwhile! We are particularly looking for environmentally- friendly products and many of the companies we’ve’ seen have ticked all the right boxes in that respect. They’re really trying to do the right thing and that’s been the standout for us; it’s a huge achievement.” Glee also offered the perfect


sourcing ground for new entrants to the garden retail market. One such example is Ariel Martin and brother Samuel, who launched online garden centre, City Garden Horticulture, 18 months ago and were visiting Glee for the first time this year. Ariel said: “We’re selling everything you’d expect to find in a bricks-and- mortar garden centre and we have a very varied customer base - urban gardeners, indoor plant enthusiasts, traditional cottage gardeners, lots of young people; anyone and everyone, really! I’ve found this to be a really good show. It’s been great to make physical connections with suppliers and there’s a really good variety of products here. We’re particularly looking for new Christmas lines and also want to shop new ranges for spring, new plants and tools. Sustainability is very important to us and we already have over 50 per cent recycled packaging; something we plan to improve on over the next few years.” Event Director, Matthew Mein commented after the show: “I am truly delighted with how this year’s show went. It has exceeded all of our expectations and I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our loyal customers and retailers who turned out to support Glee after such a challenging time. I really don’t think it could have gone any better and we are now looking forward to Glee 2022, when our biggest-ever change will come, with a different June date for the show. We are confident that this new date will be better aligned with buying cycles for the garden retail sector and can’t wait to unveil the new event when the time comes. Rebooking has gone very well and 65 per cent of next year’s


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the


plan has already been booked, so this is already looking like a really welcome move.” Many more exhibitors, visitors and Glee’s supporting trade associations have shared their thoughts on Glee 2021, where retail was reignited and the recent growth we’ve seen in gardening was celebrated. Woodlodge: “Glee 2021 was an amazing show for Woodlodge. Not only was it an opportunity to meet all of our customers that have supported us over the past 24 months, but also to showcase our entire product portfolio. Though outdoor pots will always be our main focus, we have been busy building additional product ranges that complement our core offer. Pride of place went to the container range we have developed with the RHS. This was warmly received by all of our customers, and orders are well above our initial expectations. Though we had featured our garden and home décor brand, Honey & Wild, and the extensions to our Root Indoor pot range at the on-site showroom in Tetbury, the return to Glee gave us the opportunity to present this to a wider audience. Glee also provided us with the perfect vehicle to launch our extended furniture, fire pit and water feature collections as the outdoor living category continues to grow. We look forward to building on the success of the show over the coming months and would like to pass our thanks onto the team at Hyve for their organisation in putting on such a well-run event.” VegTrug: “We saw a good mix of new and existing customers and took some very nice orders - we were pleasantly surprised. We launched a new watering system, which has had a lot of interest but, to be honest, people have been interested in everything we’ve got on the stand this year. It’s been great! Previously, we have just been all about product but, this year, we have done things a bit differently and have been more geared towards merchandising and showing what you can do with the space in store. We have taken a more focused approach for garden centres, saying ‘this is what you can do with a six-pallet space’. Retailers have really liked that and gone for it.” Ivyline: “Glee 2021 was incredible show for


an us. We had


expectations regarding visitor numbers


and quality, but these


were far exceeded. We’ve taken orders, built new relationships and generated a really important buzz ahead of the 2022 season. We’ve also rebooked for the 2022 show, as we have to be there!” Goodchaps: “Glee 2021 was definitely about quality over


SEPTEMBER 2021 DIY WEEK 13


“I am truly delighted with how this year’s show went. It has exceeded all of our expectations.”


quantity, which is what you want. Our Friendly Squid, which is helping to clean up the coast, and our Treat a Dog in Need products have had a lot of interest. People mentioned seeing them in the New Products Section, which has brought them over to us, which we were happy about. Our first Glee was in 2019 and we have only done two other trade shows since then. We were pleased to be back and to have seen such a wide number of garden centres, as well as the other organisations, such as RNIB.” DLF Seeds & Neudorff: “Glee is an important event for us, and the 2021 show did not disappoint. The quality of visitors was incredibly high, and all were wanting to place orders, as well as being keen to learn


more about latest innovations across both our product and merchandising offering. There is no question that Glee was missed, so it’s great to be back and to see our sector thriving.” Deco-Pak: “We did things a little


differently on our stand this year, which really paid dividends


but,


even without this, we believe we would have been walking away from another successful show. From the open of the show, we were busy talking with both new and existing customers, all of whom were looking to place orders and were really positive about the coming season.” Zest 4 Leisure: “Glee 2021 was a fantastic tradeshow for Zest 4 Leisure. The event was well run and the Zest 4 Leisure stand welcomed more customers than ever before. Zest enjoyed having a bigger stand, as it was extremely important for customers to feel safe and to have enough room to move around the stand and see the new product ranges. The Glee portal allowed us to share business updates and to communicate with new and existing customers about the developments


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