Wyevale Garden Centre

Visited on September 15, 2007

After visiting Brookside (and a sideline excursion to a garden estate), we went back to the Stockport bus station to catch a bus to another garden centre on our list.

After talking with a friendly ticket seller at the station, we found that our targeted destination was too far from the last bus stop, requiring several miles of walking. She suggested that we visit the Wyevale Garden centre where she had been a customer.

After a long bus ride delayed by road construction, we found the centre. My first impression of Wyevale reminded me of the big box stores we have in the States. For this (and other reasons discussed below), the Wyevale centre at Stockport was the least impressive centre we visited on our tour. To be fair, on my next trip to the UK, I would like to visit other centres under the Wyevale name for comparison.

Background

• Location – Otterspool, Dooley Lane, Marple, Stockport UK.
• Transportation – The centre can be accessed by bus if you don't mind the one-mile walk from the nearest stop.
• History – Wyevale Garden Centre was established in Hereford as a local nursery in the 1930’s by Henry Williamson. He sold bare-root plants by mail order during the dormant season. After he visited the United States and saw the garden centres selling container plants year round, he started selling potted plants and opened his first garden centre in 1967. He continued to open new centers in the south midlands. Currently there are over 100 centres in England and Wales under the Wyevale name. In April of 2006,Wyevale was acquired by Scottish investor and entrepreneur Tom Hunter and Iceland’s Baugur Group, for approximately 445 million pounds. In November of 2006,for approximately 15 million pounds, the group purchased Bridgemere Garden World (a highly recommended centre to see if you have auto transportation http://www.bridgemere.co.uk). Overall Tom Hunter has been part of a consortium, which in 2006 bought an eighth of the countries garden centres and has continued acquisitions through 2007.
• Marketing – The Wyevale group of garden centres is represented by a website that provides additional sales and services, some of which may not be available at the Stockport centre. The on-line, Flash player catalogue is extensive. By e-mail a free newsletter can be obtained to receive updates on products and special offers. They provide a senior citizen discount card (over 60 years) for 10% off instore purchases on Tuesdays.
• Service – Their web site also provides a database of over 5,000 plants with photos and information. You can do a plant search by the botanical or common name, or select a plant based on its attributes. The Wyevale web site also advertises their Hire Station for renting tools and small machinery.

Facility 

• Structure – The entrance to the Stockport Wyevale centre was plain, with random hanging baskets scattered across the front of the structure.  But there were no potted displays around the entrance to grab the customer’s imagination or soften the concrete drive.
• Access – The facility is on a main highway for easy transportation by car. There was adequate parking for the size of the facility, close to the centre for ease of loading merchandise. The entrance and exit were well marked. The isles, both inside and outside, were of ample width for wheelchair accessibility as well as shopping carts.
• Traffic Flow – Gift merchandise was displayed at the front of the facility. A colored pathway marked the route to the houseplant's section towards the rear. There was easy access to the outdoor area.
• Appearance – Many of the benches appeared to be new, both inside and outside. The isles were clutter free. The merchandise was well organized and neatly arranged both in the interior and exterior areas.
• Environment – Inside the centre they used peg-board extensively for the displays on the walls. The gift shop area did make use of wooden displays with vertical height, which set it apart from the indoor plant displays. The majority of the area inside had concrete flooring with basic covering which set apart the merchandise areas from the plant displays.
• Signage
• Interior Signs – There were large interior signs around the perimeter of the walls indicating the merchandise on the shelves below.
• Exterior Signs – The exterior signs indicated basic groupings of popular plants (such as roses and conifers) and also an A-Z grouping of plants with lesser quantities. The signs were visible and well marked on upper beams.
• Displays
• Interior Displays – They used a warehouse style of displaying merchandise. The products were well grouped and clearly marked.
• Exterior Displays – There were no display gardens or container displays on the premises. Among the flowering perennials, standard Greco-Roman statuary was displayed for sale.

Plants

• Outdoor Plants – Many of the benches were packed full of healthy, popular fall perennials. Colorful mums and pansies were in bloom. They carried a large selection of bulbs for fall planting. The vegetable and herb plants were end-of-the-season worn.
• Indoor Plants – The large selection of houseplants were healthy.  The tropical plants were full of color. The indoor plants were displayed on new benches with rollers.
• Warranty – In numerous areas throughout the outdoor displays they posted a “No quibble” 5-year guarantee on all hardy plants.
• Quality of Plants – The Wyevale website states that plants are obtained from UK growers and seed suppliers. The Wyevale group of centers carry over 28,000 different varieties of trees, shrubs, bedding plants, and houseplants chosen by their horticulture employees. The fall perennials at the Stockport Wyevale centre did appear healthy.

Merchandise 

• Gifts – The gift shop at this centre sold decorative pots, candles, picture frames, glassware, and other misc. items of good quality.
• Food – There was a Conservatory Restaurant with a casual, self-serve atmosphere on the premises. There was a large selection of snack foods on merchandise racks.
• Seasonal – I did not find any seasonal/holiday activities offered at this site.
• Clothing – At this time of the year they had racks of winter hats, scarves, and gloves. The popular Tayberry line of clothing was also carried at this store.
• Furniture – This centre carried very attractive casual furniture sets and accessories in the store. Popular outdoor grills were displayed in the furniture area.
• Stoneware – They sold stoneware of various sizes and popular colors for outdoor and indoor use.
• Gardening – This centre carried a selection of garden tools, trellis materials, hanging baskets, pots, and garden seed. Other essential garden items such as fertilizers, slug stoppers, etc. were also for sale.
• Aquatics – I did not see any aquatic supplies at this store.
• Structures – There were no aluminum working greenhouses or garden sheds on the premises. They did carry a plastic mini greenhouse in a box that can be put together. Their web site listed several aluminum greenhouses and garden sheds for purchase.
• Landscaping – Landscaping materials (such as fencing) were neatly stacked and marked around the perimeter of the outdoor area.
• Flower Shop – There was an online catalogue for ordering bouquets and related gift items. There was no in-house floral shop at this centre.
• Pets – There was a large selection of products for dogs, cats, birds, and small animals.

Ecology

• Environmental Policy – Posted on Wyevale’s website are their goals to make the business carbon neutral by 2010. They have also set a goal to stop selling peat and peat-based growing medium by that year. They indicated that most of the wooden furniture they sell currently uses only FSC approved timber from sustainable forests. Their goal for the year 2009 is for all wooden furniture to be FSC approved. An additional goal is to review the carbon footprint of all Wyevale merchandise. They also plant trees as part of their carbon offset program and indicated that this helps farmers in Rwanda and Malawi reforestation and agro-forestry projects.