“British style” in Switzerland

10.000 m² Verkaufsfläche, davon 5.000 m² überdacht, hat das neue Schilliger-Gartencenter in Matran.
The new Schilliger garden centre at Matran has a 10 000 m² sales area, 5 000 m² of which is under cover. The latest outlet to be opened by this company from western Switzerland is in Matran, a few kilometres south of Fribourg on the Bern-Lausanne motorway. It is the group’s third garden centre and has a retail area of 10 000 m², including 5 000 m² under cover. The company’s philosophy is explained as follows by store manager Vincent Reynaud: “We attach great importance to “British style” and a high overall quality level. Nevertheless, pricing is tailored to the domestic market, give or take ten per cent.” The Matran store employs over 30 members of staff, almost all of whom are trained specialist salespeople, gardeners or florists.
Vincent Reynaud, a horticultural engineer, is the manager of the Matran garden centre.
The Schilliger group is still a genuine family-run firm. With his wife, a trained florist, Maurice Schilliger Sr established his first garden centre in Gland in 1945. This outlet now covers an area of over 18 000 m². From the early days of the enterprise, Schilliger’s personal style was incorporated into the garden centres and now marketed as the “British style”. Today the businesses are run by Helen Schilliger, the founder’s daughter. In addition to the core garden centre business, the company specialises in the production of geraniums and spring bedding plants in Gland. “We produce exclusively for sale in our own stores,” says Vincent Reynaud, although the firm has to buy in from other companies in western Switzerland to keep up with demand.
In addition to the three garden centres in Gland, Plan-les-Ouates and Matran, the company runs three small boutiques in Lausanne, Carouge and Geneva. These offer mainly decorative items for the home and garden along with high-class furniture. Each of the garden centres also incorporates a smaller version of the boutiques. “Our garden centres and boutiques are always visually up-market,” says Vincent Reynaud, “They display a style that runs like a thread through the entire product offer. We have a group of craftsmen under permanent contract to keep all six businesses in shape on a regular basis. When Schilliger does something, it does it one hundred per cent!”
The boutique of just under 1000 m² celebrates the concept of “British style” and thereby accounts for almost half the store’s sales.
Mr Reynaud also sees…