The more settled weather in August meant gardeners were able to get on with their gardening and plant seeds and bulbs.
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Compared to last year, sales in seeds and bulbs were up 14.12% according to the GCA Barometer of Trade (BoT) report.
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Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive, said: ?Sales in seeds have been very up and down recently.
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“Last month, sales were right down at -18.83% due to the extreme temperatures of the heat wave. The weather settled down in August. Gardeners seemed to get back to succession sowing in the veg plots and planning for the forthcoming seasons.
Seeds and bulbs sales up
“Our member garden centres took delivery of their spring bulbs in August. This, combined with the slightly cooler weather, gave people the impetus to think about their spring displays.
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?It was still too hot for outdoor plants, but sales were down by -0.28%. Garden centre customers bought foliage and flowers for inside the home instead. Houseplant sales were 19.22% up on the previous year, which also illustrates their surge in popularity last year is growing further.?
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Garden sundries sales were also up 1.03%, furniture and barbecue sales were up 8.73% and pets and aquatics sales were up 4.84%.
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Iain added: ?We saw sales in gifts departments up 6.1%, clothing sales up 16.45% and catering was up 8.91%. Food hall and farm shop sales remained static.
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?Sales for the month were up 5.25% with a year to date change of 1.21%. It?s good to see clothing sales doing so well especially with the headlines recently about High Street retailers.?
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The GCA BoT reports are compiled using actual sales figures and provide an up-to-date trading position statement.
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The BoT reports allow members to compare their trading positions with other centres.
