Is extended trading hours the answer to the garden industry decline?

On March 10th, the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) introduced a private members bill into the House of Lords, demanding that garden centres should be allowed to open for longer hours on Sunday's and even open on Easter Sunday.

David Gwyther, the Director General of the HTA, argues that time is too short for garden centres to sell their wares and by extending the opening hours - previously set in 1994 - it would give business the opportunity to increase takings by millions of pounds.

Although the bill, which will receive a second hearing on the 16th May 2008, seeks to allow longer trading hours countrywide, the final decision still rests with the local authorities who will have the final say in issuing licenses.

Barking up the wrong tree

Is this a typically short sighted approach to solving a problem that does not exist? whilst any business is never immune to a drop in sales, the solution is not, in my view, to extend trading hours.

The key to improving sales and margins within the time that is already available is to improve the quality of the produce that is being sold.

Only this week, industry veteran, keen gardener and horticultural photographer Richard Loader, hinted that the industry might be in crisis because of the way in which garden centres treat the plants.

In a scathing dig at garden centres, Richard uses a very hard hitting line "Plants go to Nurseries to grow - Plants go to Garden Centres to die.", explaining that the garden centre is optimized for people where as a nursery, the key ingredient in the life of a plant, is geared up to produce and care for plants.

I have covered this before on and I will say it again. This is now the time to get back to basics and start sending the industry to where it started and that is proper in house grown plants.

By all means create a chain of nurseries but give that nursery it's own identity and use the plantsman's knowledge and skill to produce the best plants possible.

If you are a true gardener you will be happy to pay double what a nursery is forced to sell to the garden centres for and still get a discount on the price the rip off garden centres are selling for.

I think Richard Boyd sums up what most of us feel in a straight to the point post over as Real Oasis.

I am a believer that the traditional garden centre is a dead concept and what big retailers have done,by buying up these rural business's with temporary structures and agricultural rates, is set up very lucrative out of town stores, to sell items that were previously available on the high street.

What are your views on this, do you think extending the opening hours for garden centres is the key or do you think, improving the quality of what they sell is the answer?