55_57_New Grid 26/06/2017 18:22 Page 55
Retailer Face To Face: Garsons
Seekers Of The
Unfound
With an impeccable background spanning 147 years, and a fierce determination to stand out in garden centre gift retail, family-owned Garsons, winner of the highly competitive Greats 2017 Best Garden Centre Retailer of Gifts category, is clearly at the top of its game. Over the past three years, the company, a fore-runner of garden centre gifting, has invested over ÂŁ5m in the redevelopment of its two sites at Esher and Titchfield, to include its gift areas, with the focus on giving customers the best possible shopping experience. So what else is on the gift horizon? PG&H popped into Garsons Esher in Surrey, to meet up with company gift buyer Sarah Crees and assistant manager Nikki Macey. Garsons has been synonymous with growing produce since the late 19th century, having initially started out selling vegetables in 1871 when Queen Victoria was still on the throne. Over 13 decades later, and successfully operating in very different times politically, economically and socially, Garsons, started by George Henry Thompson, remains a successful family-run business with MD Ian Richardson - the fifth generation of the family - currently at the helm. (Other family
directors, working in the business are Ian's brother Alan, their father Derek, Peter Thompson, his daughter Clare James and his nephew Ben Thompson. All are direct descendants of George). A programme of prudent re-investment and business development has kept the company constantly moving forward over the years. "Although its long heritage is at the heart of the business, the current directors are very progressive and have taken the company forward very successfully into the 21st century," states assistant manager Nikki Macey. "The rebuilding and redevelopment of the gift and home retail space at Esher two years ago is a testament to that, as is
Below: Gift buyer Sarah Crees (left) and assistant manager Nikki Macey. Bottom: Home fragrancing is among the best selling sectors.
the purpose-built gift retail operation at our second site in Titchfield, Hampshire, which was opened last November. The fingerprint of the garden centre remains the same, it's just been configured differently," Nikki emphasises. (Interestingly, at Garsons' newly developed Titchfield site, the indoor area, which has been purpose- built for gifts, has increased, and is now under cover, while the plant area has decreased). Finding alternatives to the high street offer is a key factor when sourcing product. In charge of central buying for both sites is Sarah Crees, who joined Garsons 15 years ago, having previously worked at Jerry's Home Store. Her remit is a challenging one by anyone's standards, covering everything from home accessories and home fragrancing to bath and body, jewellery, fashion accessories, greeting cards, stationery, books, housewares, furnishings and toys. The home interiors sector has recently been extended at both sites to give
Sarah Crees: The Lowdown l Garsons' central gift buyer Sarah Crees joined the business in 2002 as an assistant buyer, moving up to a gift supervisor before taking on her current role at the beginning of 2015. l She says what she loves most about her job is the variety. "The giftware I buy is so varied, with so many different types of products that I can be dealing with candles and greeting cards one day, kitchenware another and toys the day after that." l Aside from Garsons, her favourite shops include American multiple Crate & Barrel, as well as Liberty's, Anthropologie and Hamleys.
Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide
55