Just returned from a 3-day marathon in Europe, having a look round twenty garden centres in Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. The variation across them all is really interesting, and some of the centres in The Netherlands in particular are a real eye opener to visit.
While many of the centres in Germany and France are more akin to a typical UK garden centre, several of the Dutch and Belgian centres have a completely different feel, both in terms of atmosphere and layout, as well as product selection and merchandising. They are more contemporary, and very spacious, adopting more of a lifestyle approach with products shown off in the sort of shop window displays you would find in a high street retailer, versus product stacked up in promotional displays as you would more typically see in the UK.
Several German retailers have a policy of not having any fixtures over 4' high, so you can survey the whole shop floor from anywhere in the store, which creates a very different feel to the retail space. French garden centres often have local food delicacies placed alongside displays of pots and garden tools - very handy for picking up a goat’s cheese and a bottle of rose to enjoy in your garden when you get home. Many also have enormous pet departments with a large selection of pets, from puppies to guinea pigs to snakes.
I'm sure that retailers on both sides of the channel could pick up some tips from each other, and it was certainly very interesting to see how different formats and product propositions vary between these countries.
One central market - yes. One same retail proposition – not necessarily.