May BoT shows strong performance for furniture & BBQs
Members had an ‘encouraging’ May according to the body’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) out today – with furniture & BBQs sales up significantly on the same month last year (June 15, 2026).
With highly variable weather conditions moving from cooler periods into intense heat, the industry experienced a challenging month, however the overall result for May was up +3.53%.
Battered & baked
Our CEO, Peter Burks, explains: “The industry was battered and then baked in a very variable month’s weather, but the heat really helped to rescue sales with furniture and BBQs putting in a really strong performance at last.
Positive year-to-date growth
“This contributed to an encouraging overall result for the month of +3.53%, helping to maintain positive year-to-date growth at +1.51%. Our seeds & bulbs category continued its strong run, as did clothing, with the later spring likely to have extended the sales period for seeds & bulbs.
“Despite the extreme heat, catering also performed well across the month. With some welcome rainfall at the start of June, we’re hopeful that planting activity can continue into this month.”
Strongest growth
Sales of Furniture & BBQ delivered the strongest growth among GCA garden centre members in May 2026, rising by +28.32% when compared with the same month last year.
This was followed by a strong performance in seeds & bulbs, which increased by +11.89%, while clothing also saw healthy growth, up +9.73% year-on-year.
Positive momentum
Catering maintained its positive momentum, increasing by +5.43%, while food hall/farm shop sales rose by +3.71% compared with May 2025.
More modest gains were recorded in pets & aquatics, which saw a slight uplift of +0.37%.
Small declines
Meanwhile, several categories experienced small declines, with gifts dipping by -0.13%, followed by hard landscaping, down -0.66%.
Outdoor plants, traditionally a key category for the month, saw a slight decrease of -0.8%, while garden sundries were down by -1.16%.
The largest decline among the main categories was recorded in houseplants, which fell by -2.36% compared with the same period last year.