French garden centres return to growth in 2017

After a poor year in 2016, garden centres in France returned to growth last year, with gross sales on a comparable store area increasing by 1.6 per cent compared with the previous year. According to the industry association FNMJ (Fédération nationale des Métiers de la Jardinerie), sales in the northwest and southeast grew by over 2 per cent. The increase was achieved almost entirely in the months of February to April due to the good weather in this period.
In terms of product categories, the garden segment and plants in particular were responsible for the growth. Sales of garden ranges increased overall by 3 per cent and of plants by 4.7 per cent. FNMJ reported that house plants in particular are back in fashion, with sales growing by 8.7 per cent inside two years. The tree nursery category grew by 6.7 per cent.
For the other two big product categories in French garden centres, the year turned out to be more difficult. Furnishings, leisure and boutique products, which are classed in the ʺLa Maisonʺ (Home) category by the association, grew by a modest 1.5 per cent. Having shown no growth trend at all in the first six months of the year, the pet segment ended the year down by 2.4 per cent on 2016. One reason for this was probably the intensifying competition from e-commerce, according to the association.