In brief

Stable garden market in Germany It is expected that the German garden market will see growth of 1.1 per cent in 2012 to a sales volume of € 18.272 bn. The live plants section will have increased by 0.7 per cent by year’s end, and hardware by 1.9 per cent. This forecast comes from IFH Retail Consultants and the German Garden Industry Association (IVG). Last year the sector reported sales of € 18.067 bn, which represented growth of 1.5 per cent. It is the specialist garden centres that are profiting most from this year’s growth, with sales experiencing an increase of 5.1 per cent for a combined total of € 2.27 bn. This contrasts with the DIY stores, which will only manage to hang onto the € 4.69 bn level of sales in their garden centres and departments. The forecast for 2013 points to the continuation of a stable developmental trend of around 1.1 per cent again. Around 100 garden stores in Italy The IFS in Bozen, Italy, a partner of the German Baywa trading cooperative, controls some 100 garden stores or departments in northern and central Italy as the organisation’s central franchising office. The stores operate under two banners, Gartenmarkt and Tutto Giardino. More outlets are expected to be added to the portfolio. Five of the existing stores have more than 1 000 m² of weighted sales area in the garden sector, while 33 stores altogether have a garden sales area in excess of 400 m². Their combined sales area amounts to some 23 000 m². There are 28 garden departments with a sales area of between 200 m² and 399 m² (8 400 m² combined) and 39 garden departments with less than 200 m² (5 000 m² altogether). Download: