Selfridges opens in-store garden centres amid gardening boom
Selfridges London Accessories Hall and the store exterior on Duke and Orchard Streets have been transformed into a garden centre as part of Good Nature, Selfridges’ creative theme for 2021.
The garden centre sells gardening tools, seeds, indoor and outdoor plants and pots, Selfridges own label compost. It also sells a curation of fashion, lifestyle and beauty products, as well as an exclusive collection from Prada, an exclusive Shakedown Garden merch from The Grateful Dead and a bespoke Selfridges merchandise featuring puns such as Herb Your Enthusiasm or Horti-Couture, for gardening and fashion enthusiasts alike.
The garden centre is a social space celebrating the pleasure of growing and green power, and the sense of well-being nature gives. Within the garden centre, The Potting Shed is a destination for events and advice, with a resident gardener (plus a virtual “dial-a-gardener” service) and a program of workshops, experiences and happenings which explore the pleasure and positivity that gardening brings, while promoting practical skills and sustainable methods, across every store (with Green House concepts in Selfridges Manchester and Birmingham) and on Selfridges.com. Selfridges will also “green up” Oxford Street, with a grow bag installation in front of the store’s historic canopy entrance.
“A garden centre is evocative but familiar, and has provided rich inspiration for our teams, literally and creatively. We know our customers are more interested in gardening and greening than they have ever been – and so we are playing with the idea by bringing the essentials of a typical garden centre to our stores. We will be retailing plants, compost and garden gnomes alongside special and unexpected Selfridges products with a sense fun and imagination, as we continue to explore pleasure in nature this year,” explains Selfridges creative director, Hannah Emslie.
A headline program will be hosted within the Oxford Street pop up Potting Shed and expanded to a wider customer base through virtual events. The Birmingham and Manchester stores will host a Garden Centre Green House pop up and the Manchester stores will host supplementary community garden projects.
