Optimism springs eternal

Itwas great to see so many of youatSpring Fair for the presentations of The Greatest Christmas Awards. Along with meeting so many of the Greatest Christmas teams in UK retailing we also created the biggest gathering on The Stage at Spring Fair,thank youtoall those who attended. We’veincluded as many photosaswecan from thewinningcentresinthisAwardsspecial issue, but thereismore! In oure-mailnewsletter andwebsiteGTN Xtra,www.gardentradenews. co.uk, you’llfind links to the full judges photo toursofall theGoldAward winningcentres with morebeing added each week over thecoming month.Ifyourteamare looking for that extra bit of retail inspiration as they starttoprepare for Christmas2023makesuretheysign up to the GTNXtrae-newsletter.Theycan do that using the subscribebuttononthe websiteorjuste-mail me their detailsand we will do it foryou: trevor@ pottingshedpress.co.uk.

It wasalsogreat to seemanymoreindustry friends at theGCA ConferenceinBlackburn where the mood wasparticularlyoptimistic forthe year ahead,especiallywhenthe economic forecaster predicted better timesfor thesecond half of this year and through 2024.

Januaryand Februarygardencentresales are always affectedbythe weathersousing them as an indicator for therestofthe year can be tricky That saidthe total items sold indexfromthe GTN Bestsellers Garden CentreEposdata at theend of February showssales to be just 0.6% down on last year but 83%upon2021and 20%upon2019. If we haveamildMarch andgood April,wecould be in for agreat season

With Mother’s Day,Garden Re-LeafDay and Easter all in quick succession from themiddle of March onwards thereare plenty of opportunities to drivefootfall andsales. Haveagreat month!

EDITORIAL &ADVERTISING

Garden Trade News

Potting Shed PressLtd DairyDrove ThorneyPeterborough PE6 0TX Tel01733 775700 www.gardentradenews.co.uk

THE GTNTEAM

Editor Trevor Pfeiffer trevor@pottingshedpress.co.uk

Advertising Sales Alan Burdon Alan@pottingshedpress.co.uk

Features Editor Anisa Gress anisa@pottinghsedpress.co.uk

Digital Editor Neil Pope neil@pottingshedpress.co.uk

Subscriptions Karen Pfeiffer karen@pottingshedpress.co.uk

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Potting Shed PressLtd

Garden Trade News is published by Potting Shed PressLtd who also publish: GTNBestsellers, GTNXtra, Glee Daily News and the Glee Catalogue, and the Solex Sun. Potting Shed Pressalso supply Garden Radio to over100 garden centres acrossthe country.

Director Trevor Pfeiffer

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