The ultimate thing for me is price, when i go to the large independant GC's around here i think they are ripping people off.
The small nursery types are charging £1.50 for tray of bedding plants, b&q charge £3-7, but the inde's charge £6-10, the plants are no better. The only redeeming feature for the large ones is the choice.
Here again its difficult to find anything reasonably priced though, an example being a clemetis, the GC had a vast selection, but wanted £15 per plant. This to me is too much for what is a relatively small plant which is at least double, more likely triple to what you can get them for elsewhere.
Is it better quality? maybe, but not by much.
As to coffee shops and all the tat they sell, i am not going to a GC for a day out, but then i expect most of the clientel (older generations) are going for a day out.
That is my early thirties view, which probably is not your customer target age.
Have all local plants the ones that grow sucessfully, available. Organic compost and all things like chicken manure. Green-friendly garden products. Knowledgable staff with experience.
Don't do any of the following; camping equipment, garden furniture, bbqs, gazebos, fairys on sticks, outdoor ornaments, plastic flower baskets with plastic flowers in, door chimes, jumpers made in Scotland, massive restaurant style 'cafe', ice-cream parlors as, there are plenty of Centres that have all the above already, it spoils it in my opinion.
Thank you all - what are your thoughts on having small 'situation' display gardens, that have full grown versions of plants available in the GC, all labelled, I.e.
Maybe a 'member's club' and hold monthly talks about seasonal topics, hints and tips. That is definately something that I would attend, an expert whose ear I could bend for advice!
...I went to a garden centre today that I've not been to before, and I have to say it's just about the best I've seen... Dobbies Garden World at Peterborough... I once went to one of their Scottish centres which was quite small at the time, and now I see they've moved south with big plans since becoming part of the Tesco group, but we needn't let that put us off... I spent a fortune in there today... just about the best large centre I've been to over the years... if you're ever in the area do consider a visit, if you can... even the staff were helpful... I couldn't say enough about it to be fair...
contrast this with a local small family run centre near me...just a few weeks ago [I shall not be going back] I bought some items and paid by debit card, only to find that, the single phone line they had to do transactions with, was engaged by an employee in the back office... despite repeated attempts this person refused to get off the phone so my transaction could go through... we waited and waited and I almost walked out... until finally they got off the phone.... I complained that this was appalling service and gave a terrible impression... he just shrugged his shoulders... I mean with all the competition today businesses like this should be upping their game... instead of just treating customers like they couldn't care less...
We have a small friendly nursery in Salterforth, staff very helpful, prices reasonable, no tat! Just what you need, when you need it... and while we are on the subject of service, I had excellent service from gardenessentials.co.uk based in Edinburgh. I recently bought a couple of covers for my veg trug and the mesh cover was a tight fit, so they sent out a replacement which was a better fit, but they said I could keep the one that was tight as it would cost more to collect it ! I would have posted it back to them but they were insistent I could keep it. Unheard of in my opinion. I will definately be using them again....
Posts
The ultimate thing for me is price, when i go to the large independant GC's around here i think they are ripping people off.
The small nursery types are charging £1.50 for tray of bedding plants, b&q charge £3-7, but the inde's charge £6-10, the plants are no better. The only redeeming feature for the large ones is the choice.
Here again its difficult to find anything reasonably priced though, an example being a clemetis, the GC had a vast selection, but wanted £15 per plant. This to me is too much for what is a relatively small plant which is at least double, more likely triple to what you can get them for elsewhere.
Is it better quality? maybe, but not by much.
As to coffee shops and all the tat they sell, i am not going to a GC for a day out, but then i expect most of the clientel (older generations) are going for a day out.
That is my early thirties view, which probably is not your customer target age.
The big GCs, with the restaurants, stinking candles, and general tat, have their uses. I took my ancient mother to them quite often.
But there are plenty of those already.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Have all local plants the ones that grow sucessfully, available. Organic compost and all things like chicken manure. Green-friendly garden products. Knowledgable staff with experience.
Don't do any of the following; camping equipment, garden furniture, bbqs, gazebos, fairys on sticks, outdoor ornaments, plastic flower baskets with plastic flowers in, door chimes, jumpers made in Scotland, massive restaurant style 'cafe', ice-cream parlors as, there are plenty of Centres that have all the above already, it spoils it in my opinion.
Thank you all - what are your thoughts on having small 'situation' display gardens, that have full grown versions of plants available in the GC, all labelled, I.e.
Shade garden, winter garden, summer garden, spring garden, autumn garden, tiny garden etc?
That way you could get inspiration for different things and also see what things look like when they're grown?
So are we talking about a garden centre with display gardens such as Bridgemere, or a garden with a plant centre, such as Harlow Carr?
agree with cypresseed about local plants. There are dozens of ericaceous plants at our local GCs and it's miles from the nearest acid soil
In the sticks near Peterborough
Garden centre with display gardens, each one small and very focused on its subject
Maybe a 'member's club' and hold monthly talks about seasonal topics, hints and tips. That is definately something that I would attend, an expert whose ear I could bend for advice!
...I went to a garden centre today that I've not been to before, and I have to say it's just about the best I've seen... Dobbies Garden World at Peterborough... I once went to one of their Scottish centres which was quite small at the time, and now I see they've moved south with big plans since becoming part of the Tesco group, but we needn't let that put us off... I spent a fortune in there today... just about the best large centre I've been to over the years... if you're ever in the area do consider a visit, if you can... even the staff were helpful... I couldn't say enough about it to be fair...
http://www.dobbies.com/find-a-garden-centre/peterborough/
contrast this with a local small family run centre near me...just a few weeks ago [I shall not be going back] I bought some items and paid by debit card, only to find that, the single phone line they had to do transactions with, was engaged by an employee in the back office... despite repeated attempts this person refused to get off the phone so my transaction could go through... we waited and waited and I almost walked out... until finally they got off the phone.... I complained that this was appalling service and gave a terrible impression... he just shrugged his shoulders... I mean with all the competition today businesses like this should be upping their game... instead of just treating customers like they couldn't care less...
We have a small friendly nursery in Salterforth, staff very helpful, prices reasonable, no tat! Just what you need, when you need it... and while we are on the subject of service, I had excellent service from gardenessentials.co.uk based in Edinburgh. I recently bought a couple of covers for my veg trug and the mesh cover was a tight fit, so they sent out a replacement which was a better fit, but they said I could keep the one that was tight as it would cost more to collect it ! I would have posted it back to them but they were insistent I could keep it. Unheard of in my opinion. I will definately be using them again....