New garden centre in the Netherlands

The 16th garden centre under the umbrella of the Dutch franchise organisation Life & Garden is expected to open in mid-March in Kerkrade, close to the German border near Aachen. With a retail area of 10,000 m2 it will be the biggest garden centre in the group so far. The sales area is laid out on two levels, with customers being taken along predetermined routes through the store, similar to IKEA. The entrance is on the upper floor, where the visitor first enters the cold hall, then goes down a floor to the garden equipment and lifestyle department incorporating a 300 m2 pet section before finally returning upstairs to the indoor plants and the check-out and exit. The new garden centre will thus be the first in the new franchise organisation to implement the newly developed sales concept in full.