German garden centres flourishing

The 20 biggest German operators had 3 293 outlets in operation at home and abroad at the end of 2010. That was 54 more stores year-on-year, or an increase of 1.6 per cent. Their combined retail area also expanded correspondingly by some 160 000 m² (+ 2.5 per cent). There was also a change in the average size of garden centres within the space of just one year: it amounted to 1 892 m² at the end of 2010, which is 49 m² or 2.6 per cent up on the year before. These are some of the figures from Dähne Verlag in the current issue of “Dähne Statistik Garten”, a garden statistics supplement published in conjunction with their “diy” specialist magazine. When the channels of distribution in their entirety are taken into consideration, it becomes evident that the number of garden centres belonging to DIY stores rose most sharply (+ 37), followed by the organised garden centre operators (+ 32). The cooperatives (+ 14) and garden centre chains (+ 4) were left well behind. The overall total of garden centres operated by German companies both at home and abroad amounted to 3 938 outlets at the end of the year, or 87 more than just one year previously.