Only DIY stores are growing in the French gardening market

The French gardening market has shrunk overall this year, but DIY stores have expanded their gardening business. This is suggested by retail turnover figures up to the end of August, which the two garden centre and DIY store associations, JAF and FMB (Fédération des Jardineries et Animaleries de France and Fédération des Magasins de Bricolage et de l’Aménagement de la Maison) together with the market research firm Nielsen IQ at a conference last Friday in Paris.

In the first eight months, the market volume of the French garden sector amounted to 5.8 billion euros (including VAT). Compared with the same period last year, this represents a fall of 1.4 per cent.

The garden centre and agricultural retail (Libre Service Agricole – Lisa) channels are primarily responsible for this decline. The gardening sector has also shrunk within large-scale food retail. By contrast, DIY stores have significantly increased turnover in their gardening departments.

The trade associations attribute the overall decline to this year’s weather conditions: in France, spring was 1.7 degrees and summer 3.6 degrees warmer than the long-term average – the warmest on record.

You can read a detailed report in our DIY + section.