THE owner of a chain of garden centres in the north says he is hopeful they may be able to reopen their stores on Wednesday.
It follows Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicating that centres in England can reopen, and comes ahead of a statement from Stormont announcing details of its plan to ease the region out of lockdown.
Robin Mercer, owner of Hillmount Garden Centre, which has stores in Belfast, Newtownards and Bangor, said they are currently doing around 30-40 per cent of their usual trade through their website.
“It’s been one of the hardest years ever, and we’ve been on the go for 80 years,” he said.
“Ards and Bangor have not been doing anything at all. The Belfast shop in the Castlereagh Hills has been doing online trade, but it’s still not the same as customers coming in.
“Our season usually starts in the middle of March and finishes in the middle June, so we’re halfway through it already. It’s not easy to keep the whole thing running.”
Mr Mercer said they have been employing out-of-work builders, plumbers and electricians to help deliver online orders.
“Plants have got a shelf life the same as fruit and veg, for some once they over-flower, they are past their sell-by date really,” he said.
His son Alan Mercer, managing director at Hillmount, said taking the business online has resulted in sales increasing by 66 per cent year on year for the first three weeks in April. They have sold 40 per cent more barbecues year on year and twice as many seeds and bedding plants.
The digital transformation could not have come at a more crucial time for the Mercer family, their dedicated staff and suppliers.
He said: “Our first concern when we were instructed to close our three garden lifestyle stores were for our 100 staff, the majority of whom we have had to furlough, and for our suppliers.
“Some of our growers depend on our business simply to put food on the table for their families and, as a fourth generation family business, we understand how critical it is to be able to keep going.
“The beauty of being part of a family business is the agility with which we are able to make good decisions for the business, our staff, our loyal customers and our suppliers.
“When we closed the doors to the public we honestly thought our 80 year old business would not survive, but we are grateful that customers have been loyal.”
Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) chairman James Barnes described the reopening of garden centres as “a positive economic move”, which would be applauded by millions of gardeners and the industry.
“This is not only a positive economic move but gardening benefits the mental health and wellbeing of so many people isolating at home and the importance of having something to do at home keeps you at home,” he said.
But he added it “isn’t the single answer for the £1.5 billion British nursery market” and called for a compensation scheme to help save the horticultural industry.
