Member garden centres report a ‘very good’ start to the year
Our Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures for January are out today and they reveal a ‘very good’ start to the year despite the wet weather (February 26, 2026).
From the 13 categories member garden centres record, 10 were up when compared to January 2025 with food hall/farm shop recording +15.31% and topping the BoT, followed by clothing up +14.95%.
Look forward to spring
Peter Burks, our CEO, says: “Our members figures show a very good start to the year even with the constant rain, which has put a nice spring in our members steps as we look forward to spring.
“It’s very good to see plants, seeds and bulbs all performing strongly this early in the year and with support from the gifts, food halls and clothing categories it has really added up to a great month.
Catering sales
“The catering sales figure, representing 36% of the total sales, demonstrates how important this category is at this time of year to keep pulling those visitors in.”
Seeds & bulbs came third in January’s BoT up +14.3% followed by gifts
with +11.99% and outdoor plants in fifth with +11.01%.
Positives
Catering was sixth, recording +10.07%, then garden sundries at +7.48%, followed by houseplants up by +5.62%. Pets & aquatics also poll positively for the month when compared to January 2025 at +1.24%.
Downs
The categories that recorded negatively included, understandably, furniture & BBQ at -7.13% and hard landscaping down by -26.92%.