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The French retail group Auchan opened its first stand-alone garden centre at the beginning of September under the name of Jardins d’Auchan. Whether it is simply a matter of local opportunism or a trial run for a concept that will later be repeated is a question that might well be answered in the summer of 2003, when the store completes its first year in business
This first really independent garden centre belonging to the supermarket chain Auchan is situated at Dieppe in the département Seine Maritime. It goes under the new name of Jardins d’Auchan and has a retail area of 1 500 m². Is Auchan finally going to close the gap in its series of specialist marketing formats? So far the group has in fact developed a specialist retail format from each of its hypermarket departments: Leroy Merlin for DIY and decorating, Norauto for motor products and accessories, Kiabi for clothing, Décathlon for sport, Alinea for the home….Only the garden was still out in the cold.
“At the moment it is a purely local project,” stresses Pascal Delmotte, manager of the neighbouring hypermarket to which the new garden centre is affiliated for administrative purposes. “It is the result of some hard thinking on the part of my predecessor, who became aware of the deficit in our catchment area where garden products are concerned. The majority of families living here, or 93 per cent of them, have their own house complete with a garden. We have a much higher potential than the average in France, with an annual budget of € 260 in this region compared with a national average of € 235 throughout France.”
Since Auchan’s management regards the garden centre as part of the hypermarket (8 300 m² in size), its operating results are included in the figures for the store’s garden department. However, the three checkouts in the garden centre, which is separate from the hypermarket, make it possible to track its real-time performance.
Hypermarket and garden centre function as one unit. For example, garden furniture is first displayed in the hypermarket before being taken over by the garden centre. The space that has been vacated in this way is then filled by another range. The same procedure applies to plant-care chemicals and composts. Live plants are the only category available exclusively in the garden centre; cut flowers, on the other hand, are positioned with the fruit and vegetables in the hypermarket.
“Live plants remain the key range,” says store manager Pascal Delmotte. Whereas the hypermarket carries 3 000 articles in its garden category, Jardins d’Auchan has 6 000.--nextpage--
Stretching away from the store entrance is a green avenue of house plants, with a standard range of around 50 species displayed on an area of 190 m². Further towards the back there is a flower market covering 360 m² where bedding plants are available in the spring and chrysanthemums in the autumn. Even citrus trees are for sale on a trial basis.
In the outdoor area a 250 m² nursery provides a classic selection of container-grown plants including fruit trees, ornamental shrubs and roses. All the plants are ordered directly from the producers. “We order as the plants are sold, and delivery takes just two days,” explains Daniel Briand, manager of the garden department. “It is our aim to meet the needs of this region, which is characterised by a very long gardening season.”
Brand name suppliers
Producers of branded goods have agreed to supply the garden centre, even though they have refused to do so for the hypermarket. This is particularly true of motorised equipment, where Honda, Jonsered, Stihl, McCullach, Partner, Black & Decker and Flymo are all available. Brand names in the hand tool category include Bahco, Wolf, Gouvy, Fiskars and Fox, as well as own-label products. The choice of plant care products is still limited to KB, Sem and Monsanto, which were already available in the hypermarket. Products under the Auchan brand name are doing well and include, for example, a whole range of bio-products.
The pet department fills four gondolas and a display area, and the entire back of the store is reserved for pet food. Two national brands are represented, Royal Canin and Purina. “With these brands we have agreed to stick to a certain pricing level,” is the comment here. The store also carries a wider range of food for small livestock and horses. The range for aquarists covers food including the Tetra assortment as well as accessories. However, there are no aquariums, filters or pumps to be had. Rodents and birds are also represented with a full programme of foodstuffs and a small selection of accessories.
The staff was partly recruited specially for the garden section, in the expectation that their horticultural training would provide customers with a better advisory service. All sales personnel are capable of working on the checkouts as well, so that queuing can be reduced at busy periods.
A local project or a trial of national significance? The first results are more than encouraging, having surpassed the set objectives. Customers appreciate the store and keep coming back. The managers of similarly situated hypermarkets are following the experiment with great interest, as is head office as well. An answer will probably be forthcoming in the summer of 2003. Then it will only be a matter of multiplying the concept.
Total retail area: 1 500 m²
Houseplants: 190 m²
Garden and pets: 700 m²
Flower market: 360 m²
Outside/Nursery: 250 m²
Permanent staff: 10
Seasonal staff: 3
“At the moment it is a purely local project,” stresses Pascal Delmotte, manager of the neighbouring hypermarket to which the new garden centre is affiliated for administrative purposes. “It is the result of some hard thinking on the part of my predecessor, who became aware of the deficit in our catchment area where garden products are concerned. The majority of families living here, or 93 per cent of them, have their own house complete with a garden. We have a much higher potential than the average in France, with an annual budget of € 260 in this region compared with a national average of € 235 throughout France.”
Since Auchan’s management regards the garden centre as part of the hypermarket (8 300 m² in size), its operating results are included in the figures for the store’s garden department. However, the three checkouts in the garden centre, which is separate from the hypermarket, make it possible to track its real-time performance.
Hypermarket and garden centre function as one unit. For example, garden furniture is first displayed in the hypermarket before being taken over by the garden centre. The space that has been vacated in this way is then filled by another range. The same procedure applies to plant-care chemicals and composts. Live plants are the only category available exclusively in the garden centre; cut flowers, on the other hand, are positioned with the fruit and vegetables in the hypermarket.
“Live plants remain the key range,” says store manager Pascal Delmotte. Whereas the hypermarket carries 3 000 articles in its garden category, Jardins d’Auchan has 6 000.--nextpage--
Stretching away from the store entrance is a green avenue of house plants, with a standard range of around 50 species displayed on an area of 190 m². Further towards the back there is a flower market covering 360 m² where bedding plants are available in the spring and chrysanthemums in the autumn. Even citrus trees are for sale on a trial basis.
In the outdoor area a 250 m² nursery provides a classic selection of container-grown plants including fruit trees, ornamental shrubs and roses. All the plants are ordered directly from the producers. “We order as the plants are sold, and delivery takes just two days,” explains Daniel Briand, manager of the garden department. “It is our aim to meet the needs of this region, which is characterised by a very long gardening season.”
Brand name suppliers
Producers of branded goods have agreed to supply the garden centre, even though they have refused to do so for the hypermarket. This is particularly true of motorised equipment, where Honda, Jonsered, Stihl, McCullach, Partner, Black & Decker and Flymo are all available. Brand names in the hand tool category include Bahco, Wolf, Gouvy, Fiskars and Fox, as well as own-label products. The choice of plant care products is still limited to KB, Sem and Monsanto, which were already available in the hypermarket. Products under the Auchan brand name are doing well and include, for example, a whole range of bio-products.
The pet department fills four gondolas and a display area, and the entire back of the store is reserved for pet food. Two national brands are represented, Royal Canin and Purina. “With these brands we have agreed to stick to a certain pricing level,” is the comment here. The store also carries a wider range of food for small livestock and horses. The range for aquarists covers food including the Tetra assortment as well as accessories. However, there are no aquariums, filters or pumps to be had. Rodents and birds are also represented with a full programme of foodstuffs and a small selection of accessories.
The staff was partly recruited specially for the garden section, in the expectation that their horticultural training would provide customers with a better advisory service. All sales personnel are capable of working on the checkouts as well, so that queuing can be reduced at busy periods.
A local project or a trial of national significance? The first results are more than encouraging, having surpassed the set objectives. Customers appreciate the store and keep coming back. The managers of similarly situated hypermarkets are following the experiment with great interest, as is head office as well. An answer will probably be forthcoming in the summer of 2003. Then it will only be a matter of multiplying the concept.
Total retail area: 1 500 m²
Houseplants: 190 m²
Garden and pets: 700 m²
Flower market: 360 m²
Outside/Nursery: 250 m²
Permanent staff: 10
Seasonal staff: 3
