Bearing this in mind, during an early October visit to an independent garden centre in the UK, I sighed when I saw a huge area of the centre blocked off from the public and the large barriers emblazoned with a ‘Sorry it’s early but we’re getting ready for Christmas’ message.
Then I smiled and calmed down. For on a small table by the emblazoned barriers stood a jar of humbug sweets with a sign saying ‘We said we’re sorry, but if you are still offended please enjoy a ‘bah humbug’ on us!’. This small but clever gesture quickly stemmed any ill feeling I may have held for the retailer stocking for Christmas at the start of the financial quarter. I took a sweet, made a memory and continued shopping.
Behind those barriers and hundreds more up and down the country, garden centres have been preparing Christmas displays that include ‘Santa’s Grottos, festive tableware, tree and house decorations, Christmas Trees (real and imitation), seasonal plants such as poinsettia and extensive gift ideas for family, friends and even pets!
Balancing family life and work, many consumers are tempted to shop online at Christmas but what online retailers cannot provide is invaluable family time together and a shared memorable experience. Garden centres provide a ‘destination’ for their communities, for families to enjoy time together and to shop for gifts for each other.
With our new MultiPOS correx packs for garden centres, Hortipak have designed low volume, personalised POS that covers the relevant promotional areas and appeals to all the family, even introducing a ‘selfie station’ poster that invites customers to post their selfies onto social media and gives further exposure to the garden centre. Not for ‘Bah Humbugs’ like me but my children loved it!
Christmas retail
As a father of four I have long been aware of how early in the year attention can turn to Christmas. However, sadly for my children, I’ve always been a ‘Bah Humbug’ until Christmas is truly upon us.