June’s BoT figures are out!
Our June Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures are out today showing once again catering and food sales at the top but there are other positives too (July 22, 2024).
Eight of the recorded 13 categories, when compared to June 2023, were up, according to data submitted our member garden centres.
Upbeat
Peter Burks, our CEO, says: “As expected Junes figures show a fall in sales compared to last year, -0.68%, albeit a very small drop, but the year-to-date is now also negative at -0.76%. However, members I’ve spoken to recently at our Area Award Meeting still remain upbeat and proactive, despite unusual weather patterns, and they are buoyed by the categories that are doing well.
Not doom & gloom
“Once again, the big winners were the restaurants and food halls/farm shops, and the biggest faller, excluding the miscellaneous and Christmas categories, was furniture & BBQs at -19.81%.
“It was good to see our smaller centres performing well and showing an increase of +5.49% and some centres on an individual basis were up by up to 30%, so it’s definitely not doom and gloom out there. With some warm dry weather now settling in in July, hopefully there will be a few summer furniture and BBQ sales too.”
Top performing
The top performing category in June 2024 was catering, up +19.18%, when compared to the same month in 2023. This was followed by food hall/farm shop +15.25%.
Houseplants was the third best performer of the month in at +14.5%, seeds & bulbs came in next at +10.94%, then pet & aquatics +10.63%, gifts +9.26%, hard landscaping at +4.88% and garden sundries +1.09%.
Clothing was -1.69% and outdoor plants at -1.86%, the miscellaneous category came in at -6.26%, furniture & BBQs at -19.81% and Christmas, was unsurprisingly last, with -28.69%.