Selfridges targets new green fingers with in-store garden centres

Selfridges has launched garden centres at its stores in London, Manchester and Birmingham, seeking to capitalise on the gardening boom that accelerated during the pandemic.

The retailer said the new centres feature its own-label compost and an exclusive themed clothing range from Prada, and form part of a creative theme for the year called Good Nature.

According to the Horticultural Trades Association, the number of gardeners rose by 3 million last year, with nearly half of them aged under 45.

The garden centres include a “potting shed” where customers can talk to experts and take part in workshops and events that will run between 25 June and 11 July. There is also a dial-a-gardener problem-shooting consultation service.

“A garden centre is evocative but familiar, and has provided rich inspiration for our teams, literally and creatively,” said Hannah Emslie, the creative director of Selfridges. “We know our customers are more interested in gardening and greening than they ever have been. And so we are playing with the idea by bringing the essentials of a typical garden centre to our stores.”

A range of own-brand gardening merchandise is sold in-store and online, and Gary the gnome, a limited-edition mascot, features on a collection of caps, totes and T-shirts featuring slogans such as “Herb your enthusiasm” and “Horti-couture”.

There is also a 16-piece range called Shakedown Garden, inspired by the Grateful Dead’s album Shakedown Street, giving the band’s “aesthetic of tie-dye, skulls, bears and roses a botanical spin”.

“We will be retailing plants, compost and garden gnomes alongside special and unexpected Selfridges products with a sense of fun and imagination as we continue to explore pleasure in nature this year,” Selfridges said.

Last week the Office for National Statistics recorded a 7.7% rise in sales at “other” non-food stores as the public looked to spruce up their gardens for summer. Google searches relating to gardening, from the location of garden centres to details of plants and accessories, doubled from May 2020 to May 2021.

“There is certainly a gardening boom,” said Patrick O'Brien, the UK retail research director at the analysts GlobalData. “Clothing, leisure and holiday spend has had nowhere to go during the pandemic, so people have been spending more on their homes and gardens. We can see this trend continuing through the summer. Using your garden as a venue to socialise has also become a real thing.”

Iain Wylie, the chief executive of the Garden Centre Association, said: “It was a nice summer last year and with lockdown a lot of people got their first chance to do a bit for the first time. We are seeing this year that many of those really enjoyed it, it is good for physical and mental health and wellbeing, and have kept it up as a hobby. The more you do, the more addictive it becomes.”

Wylie said that as with many sectors, gardening was suffering from some product shortages, specifically in garden furniture.

GlobalData estimates that the greenfinger boom shows no sign of abating this year, with spend estimated to be set to rise by 7% to £3.1bn. However, O’Brien said that while the difficulties around activities such as holidays abroad and going out were persisting this summer, gardening would be faced with significant competition for consumers’ leisure spend as the UK moves beyond the pandemic.

“Whether gardening is a long-term boom, retailers counting on it continuing is perhaps questionable,” he said. “We are already seeing people investing in holiday bookings for next year, showing people are thinking about putting spend back into [other] leisure sectors.”

Last month Selfridges obtained a licence to enable it to hold weddings at its flagship London department store.