Garden remains engine of growth

The sales of the 15 biggest operators of garden centres rose by 2.2 per cent to € 8.7 bn in 2012. This is one result from the 36-page publication, Dähne Statistik Garten, which has just appeared and is now for the first time divided into sections under the headings of national + international, Germany and abroad. The figures in the latest garden statistics compiled by Dähne Verlag reflect the fact that the garden has remained a topical trend even in economically difficult times, not only in Germany but on an international level as well – though not uniformly across all participants in the market. The sales of the 15 biggest companies involved in the garden business – DIY retailers, cooperatives and garden centre chains – rose by 2.2 per cent in 2012 to a gross volume of € 8.698 bn. So the market did experience growth, though there were a number of exceptions both upward (eg, Obi and Bauhaus at the top of the ranking table, or Dehner in the midfield with a plus of more than five per cent) and downward (Praktiker above all, with a deficit of more than five per cent). The explanation for the double-digit decline suffered by Baywa lies in the transfer of large parts of its DIY retail business to Baywa/ Hellweg, a cooperative venture. Although the total sales of the Top 15 retailers at home and abroad are continuing to grow, the rates of growth are falling off. It is also apparent that the sales trend has more or less kept pace with the growth in store numbers (plus 2.4 per cent) and of retail area (plus 3.1 per cent). Here figures for the Top 20 group have been applied. The trend towards a greater retail area per store is still continuing. In the green market in Germany the retail areas are continuing to increase, not only in absolute terms but also on average with regard to individual garden centres. This tendency emerges from a consideration of the 20 biggest companies: in 2012 an increase of 2.3 per cent in outlets to 2 880 stores was offset by 3.5 per cent growth of floorspace to 5.377 mio m². The ranking by floorspace is headed by the DIY market leader Obi, a company that increased its garden sales area by 3.8 per cent to 851 000 m². The first straight garden centre operator on the table is Sagaflor, a speciality dealer cooperative, in fourth place (547 000 m²). Following on are all the big garden centre specialists: Dehner (+1.1 per cent, 523 200 m²), Ekaflor (+8.5 per cent, 298 300 m²) and Egesa-Zookauf (+2.9 per cent, 284 000 m²). Only one company…