With exciting new product sectors, a fair trade initiative, innovative product trails, and over 900 exhibitors showcasing their latest products, Home & Gift is gearing up to be an exciting hot-bed of Christmas gifts and autumn/winter trends and the one show buyers cannot afford to miss this summer!

Internet masterminds are always thinking up new and exciting ways for people to communicate. The introduction of Web 2.0, a term used for describing information sharing web-based activities, means that more and more businesses are beginning to follow suit and become increasingly innovative in their ways of communicating.

Eden Gardens, an Australian destination home and garden improvement retailer, is implementing Retail Enterprise Suite^TM from global information technology services company, Episys to produce high quality signage to boost promotional effectiveness and customer communications.

Rolawn celebrated being the first choice for some of the country's leading garden designers at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2008.

Ian Blinco joins CASCO Europe as UK Sales Manager for the independent sector. After 20 years with John Allan, Ian is taking on a new challenge with the ever expanding CASCO organisation.

P. de Jager & Sons Limited, top quality bulb specialists since 1868, has been bought by loyal customers George and Rose Clowes, from North Oakley in Hampshire. Thelma de Jager, who has served the business for over 50 years, decided to retire and with no opportunity for family continuity, the new ownership ensures the company has a growing future.

"Bayer Garden - Situs Hortus" scooped a gold medal and picked up the award for most innovative show garden at this year's BBC Gardeners' World Live!

How can you make extra profit from your houseplant sales? Simple - offer your customers FITO Drip Feeders alongside your orchids, citrus and other houseplants. These small, colourful vials of plant food have been in the Garden Centre Best Sellers Top Ten (Grow Retail Best Sellers Charts January to May 2008) every week this year and the Number One Best Seller for 12 weeks.

No more carrying heavy watering cans or dragging hoses over the garden, the Gardena Micro-Drip-System is a labour-saving economical method of watering.

Bahco's new SuperLIGHT® Telescopic Hedge Shears and Bypass Loppers are the perfect addition to the gardener's tool kit. Both feature superlight weight aluminium handles to enable gardeners to cut back dead winter foliage or shape overgrown hedges without the risk of strain or fatigue.

An improved form of Runner Bean, Scarlet Emperor, introduced in 1906 and long regarded as the classic variety, is one of nine new and exclusive vegetable seed varieties introduced by Mr Fothergill's for the 2009 retail season. The new variety, called Scarlet Empire (pictured), is said to have improved disease tolerance while the long, slender pods are slower to become "stringy" than those of Scarlet Emperor.  It retains the excellent flavour of its famous forerunner.

Garden Master gives you the GMPA Lawn Aerator - it's easy to operate and produces results similar to machines twice its size and cost.

With summer approaching, providing opportunities for al fresco entertaining, sales of three-litre "wine boxes" - the most cost-effective method of purchasing wine - will undoubtedly soar.

Just launched in the UK is Embrace, a premium range of candles from Bolsius, which combine the practical benefits of excellent burning characteristics with the emotional benefits derived from using a candle to enhance a special occasion.

To mark the occasion, company chairman Charles Notcutt cut a celebratory cake and raised a glass of champagne to toast customers and staff, past and present. Special guests at the ceremony were a dozen former members of staff, including Mrs Isobel Wilton and Mrs Sally Pearson who had both been managers, one after the other, of the then floristry department within the garden centre in the 1960s. They were fittingly presented with bouquets.

To help mark the garden centre's 30th birthday, staff dressed in 1970s clothing and were joined by VIP couple Sue and Andy Mirams from Barlestone, who celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary earlier this year.

GLEE GARDEN

In September more than 500 exhibitors will pack the four huge Glee Garden halls at the NEC Birmingham; grouped into five, clearly defined sectors designed to make sourcing products and suppliers easier:

It doesn't seem all that long ago that we were preparing for last years show and over the past 12 months we have had a very exciting and productive year. To top all of that, Grange has proudly celebrated its 140th birthday and has marked this momentous milestone with a series of exciting competitions, which Grange intend to continue at GLEE and will run for the rest of the year with some great prizes and promotions to give away.

The lawn, although always under threat from new trends, remains a British favourite. "Not many people realise the value of grass," explains Miranda Harris, Marketing Manager for Johnsons Lawn Seed. "There are so many benefits especially when we have a commitment to easing climate change. It stabilises the soil and acts as a buffer against wind, water and erosion. Sixty square metres of lawn will produce enough oxygen for one person every day," continues Harris. 

Within this tough economic climate, it seems likely that 2009 could prove to be one of the most challenging years in recent history for garden retailers.

For more than 35 years, Hillhout has been a specialist in timber garden products,  with  a strong emphasis on the three characteristics of "innovation", "quality" and "service".

Soft Protection Salon Grooming

New in Rosewood's Soft Protection Salon range is a full range of high quality, functional grooming products for dogs and cats.  Tested by professional groomers, it is the first grooming range to be presented in innovative and unique colour co-ordinated pvc packaging, making this range stand out from others.

Look no further, Pets Corner Express is a managed pets department, specifically designed to benefit the retailer, allowing them to have a pet department without the hassle of managing it.

Tetra, the leading supplier of fish foods, treatments and equipment, is adding more to its best selling water conditioner, Tetra AquaSafe, to help fish stay even healthier for longer. The new formula ensures healthy water and healthy fish, thanks to the unique mix of highly active protective substances, natural biopolymers and trace elements.

8 in 1, a brand with a world-wide reputation for innovation and quality, is proud to announce its new UK range, giving it a fresh new look and appeal, focused on the top end of the companion animal category. It is part of a European-wide launch that builds on the existing brand attributes of trust, high quality and convenience. This first phase includes a complete new range of grooming and hygiene products for dogs, offering retailers a new concept for today's growing premium market. 

Tetra, the leading supplier of fish foods, treatments and equipment, has launched its new Quick Step campaign to help show new fishkeepers just how easy setting up a new tank really is.  The campaign offers retailers a free poster which can be placed in-store to advise customers on the four easy steps to setting up a tank. The poster also doubles as a brochure which can be given away to fishkeepers who may be buying fish for the first time or who need some extra help.

Premium cat litter manufacturer Ashapura has declared the Interzoo pet trade fair held in Germany at the end of May, as "a great success" for its leading international PURA brand.

Interpet are proud to introduce our new River Reef aquarium. The complete aquarium offers no compromise filtration and lighting for brilliant results, minimum maintenance and maximum enjoyment. Interpet make it even easier to succeed by supplying a range of start-up kits which contain all you need to set up and maintain a Freshwater "River" planted or Marine "Reef" aquarium.

Select Cages International has tapped into a growing interest in keeping chickens by launching two impressive timber enclosures designed for domestic use. Known as "Covered Poultry/Animal Cottage" and "The Country Cottage", the second unit is a full walk-in height, with large outside runs. Non-slip ramps provide access for the animals from spacious sleeping/nesting houses to outside exercise areas.

Interpet's award winning Power Filter range comprises of five different units to suit aquariums from 5 to 180 litres. The PF Filtration range is the most versatile, comprehensive and easy to use product, with good features and benefits for your aquarium:

As the UK's leading specialist in dog behaviour and training products, The Company of Animals has long been committed to improving the lives of people and their pets. That is why Dr Roger Mugford and his team are delighted to introduce Arm's Length - the superior scoop.