Our Barometer of Trade for January shows ‘a steady start to the year’
January’s Barometer of Trade (BoT) figures released by us today (January 24, 2025) reveal members recorded ‘a steady start to the year’ with the year-to-date variance up +3.82%.
When likened to January 2024, the results from garden centres for the month showed eight of our 13 categories performed positively with catering in the top spot at +13.16%.
Catering leads
Our CEO, Peter Burks, says: “Our member garden centres saw a steady start to the year, with catering once again taking the lead and the non-gardening departments doing very well too.
“Clothing came in second, up +11.37%, and food hall/farmshop came next with +7.61. It was, however, a disappointing month for outdoor plant sales, down by -10.69%, but good to see seeds and bulbs getting the year off to a strong start in fourth position at +5.3%.”
Gifts & houseplants
The fifth best performing category recorded for January 2025, when compared to the same month in 2024, was miscellaneous at +4.74%, then came gifts with +4.85% and houseplants at +1.59%.
Bringing up the rear
Pets & aquatics came in after this up +0.97%, then garden sundries showing -3.77% and Christmas at -7.69%.
Bringing up the rear were outdoor plants at -10.69%, hard landscaping -11.6% and furniture & BBQs with -16.12%.