What benefits can buying an extra store give to garden centres?

摘要

More garden centres are adding extra locations to their offer, Coolings in Kent being the latest example, but why are they doing so and what are the benefits? Coolings bought an old Wyevale just a mile-and-a-half away from its base in Knockholt, Kent,a decade ago and has now added The Potted Garden Nursery near Leeds Castle, also in Kent, which has planning permission to add more retail and catering space on the site, close to Maidstone.Gilbert Evans director Mike Gilbert says some garden centres buy another one locally to protect their business in a "hub and spoke" type approach with the main centre as the hub and then they buy other centres, partly to extend their reach and partly togive existing customers more choice.