Garden centre retail group Wyevale Garden Centres has predicted that this weekend will see a surge in sales of real trees, with tens of thousands of trees being sold in its centres during its annual Real Tree Weekend events.
The garden centre retailer predicts that they will see a +11% YOY sales rise on its real Christmas trees this year, selling more than enough trees to fill London’s Wembley Stadium, with more than one million shoppers coming through the doors.
As a recent survey by Wyevale Garden Centres and YouGov has shown, demand for real trees amongst British consumers remains high, with the YouGov survey demonstrating that now one in five of us would prefer a fragrant real tree that drops needles as opposed to a non-needle dropping tree with no scent. This has been reflected in the buying habits of Wyevale Garden Centres, as the retailer has increased its buy of the Fraser Fir and Norway Spruce varieties that are particularly fragrant by 25% YOY.
Wyevale Garden Centres Christmas tree expert David Mitchell commented: “We’re expecting to see thousands of families through our doors to choose their real trees, especially with the Real Tree Weekend events taking place in centre on December 3 and 4 and December 10 and 11. The first weekend of December is always when we see the first surge in real trees sales as we move in to December and people feel that Christmas is finally on the approach!”
He added: “The quality of the trees we sell at Wyevale Garden Centres is undisputed, our trees are pruned by hand more than twenty times in their life-cycle and genuine craftsmanship goes into creating this truly artisanal product. We are so confident in that our real trees will stay looking good until Christmas, that if shoppers aren’t completely happy we’ll replace their tree for free any time before Christmas Day!
“This year we have experienced a cool snap during the autumn season, unlike the continuous warm autumn’s we have seen in the past couple of years, creating the perfect growing conditions for these trees. Cool weather at the final stage of growth for these trees prompts them to go into hibernation, ensuring they retain water and will stay in great shape for longer.”
