Garden centres are the retail genre of the moment
Mary Portas OBE, business strategist, broadcaster, author, and activist, brought her retail insight to the 2026 Garden Centre Association (GCA) annual conference, says Petra Hoyer Millar in The Dirt.
Credited with transforming Harvey Nichols into a leading fashion destination, Mary Portas is a recognised authority on retail and brand communication. She continues to advise businesses globally while lecturing on the interplay between brands, customers, and culture. As co-chair of the Better Business Act, she leads a coalition advocating for legislation that aligns business success with societal and environmental wellbeing.
Speaking at the 2026 Annual Conference of the GCA earlier this year, to an audience of garden centre owners and retailers, Portas offered a timely perspective on the future of physical retail, alongside a welcome dose of inspiration in challenging economic times. Her reflections on purpose-led business, experience-driven retail, and the rising importance of local community spaces underscored why garden centres are becoming one of the more relevant retail formats of the moment.
Reflecting on retail’s evolution, Portas explained that there was a time when the industry thrived on instinct, creativity, and an intimate understanding of consumer desire. Over time, however, retail became siloed, formulaic, and financially engineered – driven more by spreadsheets than shoppers. Efficiency and margin often came at the expense of emotion, theatre, and surprise, eroding the sector’s ability “to make people feel”.
This is where garden centres are uniquely positioned. Unlike many retail sectors still searching for meaning, garden centres embody the values shaping modern consumer behaviour. “Rooted in nature, wellbeing, patience, and growth, they encourage participation, not passive consumption,” said Portas. Garden centres offer beauty that evolves, invite dwell time and conversation, and encourage repeat visits. In a world seeking reconnection with environment and community, they are restorative, not merely transactional.
Garden centres, plant centres, and nurseries remain central to millions of lives, for amateurs and experts alike. They maintain leadership in plants and gardening categories, while online channels dominate garden furniture, BBQs, and tools (HTA). HTA data shows 203 million visits to 1,500 UK garden centres in 2024, with 68% of adults visiting at least once. UK households spent an estimated £9 billion on gardening products, averaging £300 per household (HTA Value of Gardens, September 2025).
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