Bents Garden Centre

"A Stylish Outlook for Your Garden and Home"

Visited on September 16, 2007

A trip to Bents was on my list of places to visit since January 2007.  I had read an article in the November 2006 Today’s Garden Center featuring the landscape architectural firm of Wertheim, van der Ploeg & Klemeyer. They were involved in the current design of Bents as well as the new 50,000 square foot addition.

Of interest to gardeners in the Tidewater, Virginia area, this firm also designed the current White’s Garden Center and Nursery in Chesapeake. Other facilities in the United States the firm has worked with are Al’s Garden Center in Sherwood, Oregon; Pasquesi Home and Gardens in Lake Bluff, Illinois; Atrium Garden Center in Lake Zurich, Illinois; and Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore, California. If you are familiar with any of those facilities in the United States, look for similarities in the structure and layout, between Bents and the centers listed above.

Garden Center owners from the United States visit Bents to learn how they operate.  In the future we may see more of this UK model in the US.

Background

• Location – Warrington Road, Glazebury, Warrington, Cheshire, UK. The business encompasses 60 acres of land.
• Transportation – There is easy access by car approximately 18 miles or 30 minutes from Manchester located on a major 4-lane road. By bus, it took us an hour & 15 minutes. There is a bus stop directly across the highway from the centre.
• History – Bents was established in 1937 by Margaret and Alfred Bents as a small family business. Originally they grew roses as a hobby in their garden. When they began to sell the roses locally, they expanded by renting a half-acre plot of land. When World War II broke out the hobby of selling roses was curtailed as Alfred was away from the family serving his country.  After the war he returned to his hobby of growing and selling roses and flowers. The hobby became serious  business when he bought sixteen acres of land.  At that time, there were not garden centres, as we know them today. Everything was planted in November to December and March to April and the profits had to last for the year. (HOVER HERE for more Bents History ...)
• Marketing – The 70 years of family-friendly business is a theme they built on for their customer base. They acknowledge that they have evolved into a lifestyle destination over the years, but are plant people at heart which remains the core of their business. In 2007 they hired Sass Communications, a major advertising and PR firm in the United States and Europe, to handle their advertising account. This involved their July 70th anniversary celebration with press and radio ads. They also booked ads and inserts in regional home interest magazines, as well as weekend supplements in the nationals. Their marketing line was “Bents, For Beautiful Living”.
• Service – Bents provides a free self-drive service van as well as a delivery service. New for 2007 they advertise a Personal Shopper Design Service. They promote this as a specialist designer service for ”design-led advice and inspirational solutions for creating the perfect transition from home to garden.”  They have in-house training for all employees to serve the one million visitors per year.  Bents is also involved in service to the community. Wolfe Garden Tools has been a supplier at Bents for 50 years. To celebrate the anniversary year, Bents and Wolfe Tools donated 50 sets of children’s garden tools to the Glazebury Primary School where the children have a garden. They also have been involved in fund raising for the local Cystic Fibrosis Trust, as well as a cancer relief charity.

Facility 

• Structure – As we approached the front of the building, the continuous mass of hanging baskets of bright red Ivy Geraniums were a bold statement but did not prepare us (as first time customers) for what was inside. Walking into the facility, Dave’s first comment was “world class.” Spacious, well lit, the colorful interior sets the mood to shop, whether for home merchandise or plants. The OPEN SKIES building was designed by Dutch-based Thermaflor and was the first Open Skies facility in the UK. It was completed in July 2007 at a cost of three million pounds (approximately 4.5 million dollars). The glass roof can be fully open with sunny weather. With a high tech sensor system, the glass roof will close quickly when the midland weather turns to rain (which is often.) The roof covers 50,000 square feet (50% of the external plant area) allowing customers to shop for annuals, perennials, and shrubs in inclement weather as well as the evening hours.
• Access – The facility is user friendly for the disabled with wide isles, wheelchair ramps, special car parking facilities, wheel chairs available (if needed), and waitress service in the restaurant.
• Traffic Flow – The isles were laid out in linear pathways in both the interior and outdoor display areas.
• Appearance – I am not used to shopping at such a large centre in my area.  So when I walked into the front door, seeing the floor merchandise, gifts, and plants in one glance was overwhelming. The merchandise displays were contained within boundaries with no overspill into the traffic isle. With the recent renovations, the interior area felt fresh and new. Many of the benches in the open sky area were new. The outdoor area had a combination of new and older benches.  All the benches and floor area were clean.
• Environment – Different types of floor covering were used throughout the interior which set boundaries for the displays. Brick pavers were used in the greenhouse and the outdoor area. The lighting in the Fresh Approach Restaurant provided a lower key atmosphere for eating. Several of the merchandise areas used softer lighting (other than florescent) to accent displays. While I was shopping, Dave sat in an easy chair and commented to me when I came back that he had found the muzak playing in the store, boring. I was having too much fun finding small garden items I could take home in a suitcase to notice the bland music.
• Signage
• Interior Signs – As you walk thru the front door, a Bent’s welcome sign lists the individual departments with arrow directions for each. Throughout the facility the signs are repeated, with each department well marked.
• Exterior Signs – The plants in the Open Sky and the outdoor areas were prominently identified on all the benches with labels in each pot. A large stand-up sign provided basic information as to the use of the plant it was identifying. There were also sections that group the plants together according to their usage (e.g., Cottage Plants).
• Displays
• Interior Displays – INDOOR HOUSEPLANTS were displayed in formal arrangements around the restaurant and gift areas. The tropical blooms were color coordinated with their containers. These plants were ready to take home for decoration.
• Exterior Displays – An impressive topiary display of a HORSE and a GOLFER were displayed in the open sky area. CONTAINER GARDEN DISPLAYS in the greenhouse were of unifying plant material. There were several large container displays in the outdoor area.

Plants

• Outdoor Plants – The selection of perennials, bedding plants, conifers, shrubs, fruit and ornamental trees would be too large to list individually. The photos show the variety of plants, many of them common to what we grow in Tidewater, Virginia.
• Indoor Plants – Healthy indoor plants were displayed in decorative pots near the merchandise area and restaurants. Like the outdoor plants, many of the houseplant varieties are common to the plants we have in the States.
• Warranty – Plant warranties were prominantly displayed stating: “All our hardy plants carry a no hassle 5 year guarantee.”
• Quality of Plants – Bents advertises the high quality of their plants and the fact that they grow about 60% of the plants on their own on-site nurseries. The plants that they had on display did meet their advertisement claim of “high quality.”

Merchandise 

• Gifts – Garden gifts ranged from wind chimes to decorative wall clocks. Books, candles, stylish pottery, silk flowers, and greeting cards were also part of the merchandise mix. They displayed the merchandise so that the consumer can envision their living space with these stylish home products.
• Food – Bents has two eateries at the centre, which seat 480 people. The 100 restaurant employees include 15 chefs. According to an article in Todays Garden Center, November 2006, the cafe alone makes $3.7 million a year. Chairman Ron Bent stated, “This is our best draw we’ve got.” When we were there over the noon hour, both were crowded for Sunday lunch. The Fresh Approach Restaurant opened in 2001. It serves homemade cuisine with an open kitchen. On Monday thru Friday, the restaurant is open in the evening, taking dinner orders until 8:30. This encourages the gardener to take advantage of shopping for plants in the evening under the open-skies greenhouse. The ‘Caffe Nel Verde’ provides light refreshments with homemade pastries, desserts, teas, coffee and cold drinks.  The open style restaurant overflows into the merchandise areas. Even as you sit and relax with a meal or desert, your eyes will still be shopping.  They have received industry rewards for Best Restaurant and Best Coffee Shop in the UK. 
• Seasonal – The Christmas displays open in mid October. They have been award winners for best display in the UK for the past 10 years. You can visit their web site for photos of the 2007 themed displays. Other seasonal attractions are held such as Halloween, Apple Day, and Wildlife Visits. An Autumn Walk and Talk in October is held with John Bent in his Weeping Ash Garden. Their web site posts current and upcoming activities.
• Clothing – Bents provides one-stop apparel shopping for the family. A children’s clothing department with accessories for children’s room was added with the 2007 renovations. For adults there is the Tayberry Company line of casual clothing, footwear, and accessories. Tayberry has been providing merchandise to the Garden Centre Industry for the past 10 years. Also in the facility was the Edinburgh Woolen Mill clothing store that carried quality cashmere and woolen clothes for adults.
• Pet Supplies – Pets Corner, a pet retailing business established in 1968, was incorporated into the centre with the 2007 expansion. Pet food and accessories were sold. They had staff on hand for service and pet advice. 
• Furniture – As you can see by the photos, they carry a range of furniture from formal indoor dining to outdoor leisure, place settings included. Home décor accents and artwork were displayed with the furniture so the customer could envision an ensemble for their own home.
• Stoneware – A large selection of various sizes of pottery and stoneware were carried in colors not only for the garden but for interior decorating also. Both whimsical and traditional statuary was available as well as concrete garden benches and birdbaths.
• Gardening – Gardening products for the home gardener (such as boots, gloves, garden tools, fertilizers, and pest controls) were easily accessible on walls or shelves. They also carried organic care products for pest control. The Garden Care Section called “Garden First Aid” provided advice for diagnosing plant problems.
• Structures – Bents carried a very large selection of garden sheds in various styles and sizes. Backyard working greenhouses were for sale on site.
• Landscaping/Hardscaping – Landscaping materials such as pavers, stepping stones, and landscaping rocks were stacked and neatly grouped near the side parking lot. Various styles of fencing and trellis materials were also available in this area.
• Flower Shop – Bents advertises on their Internet page a floral designer service for the home or for gifts. In the store they carried a large selection of silk flowers and arranging accessories for the DIY floral arranger.

Ecology

• Recylcing – If you buy one of Bents nursery-grown plants and return the pot to them, you will receive 50p off your next hardy plant purchase – a good incentive to recycle pots.
• Water – In 1976 a 3.5 million gallon, man-made reservoir was created. Rainwater from the buildings and the site is collected. The water from the reservoir is filtered and then used for the plants in the garden centre and the nursery. The recycling process is then continued with all water draining back into the underground drainage system and returning to the reservoir. The reservoir has become the main provider of water at the garden centre, which also is a positive for business expense. The reservoir attracts wildlife, which customers at the Fresh Approach Restaurant can view. Bents does not have to rely upon the local authority for water, even in the dry months.
• Carbon Footprint – Early in 2008 Bents issued a ‘Green Fingers to Green Issues’ statement on their website. It is based on the concerns the Garden Centre Industry has with carbon footprints and climate change, as well as their own commitment to social responsibility. They list their five Green Footprints as 1) Recycling with reducing and reusing 2) Water efficiency 3) Healthy living and lifestyle 4) Social responsibility by supporting the local community and maintaining a healthy society & 5) Trading fairly and responsibly.