May 20, 2009 – With the first long weekend of the summer season now behind us, it's safe to say that the weather kept garden centres on their toes across Canada.
With the first long weekend of the summer season now behind us, it's
safe to say that the weather kept garden centres on their toes across
Canada. We've scoured through news stories to see what garden centres are saying about their May long weekend experience. Click on the links to go to the full news story.
Extreme temperature swings struck Calgary as the sun blazed on Saturday and Sunday, with the mercury climbing to a summery 25 C. Come Monday morning, there was a chill in the air as temperatures plunged to -1 C. Still, a daytime temperature hovering around zero didn't deter enthusiastic Calgary gardeners on Monday.
"(Business) has
been unexpectedly strong," reported owner Nick Zannis of Golden Acre Garden
Sentre to the Calgary Herald. "We gave several staff the day off and now the parking lot is
80 per cent full and there are lineups."
A little more south in Lethbridge, Alta., Green Haven Garden Centre manager Karen Barby says more people were buying plants but holding off on planting until the weather becomes more stable.
Frost warnings in the Greater Toronto Area made gardeners think twice before getting down and dirty in their garden plots. Jenny Shaw of Bill's Garden Centre told CityNews that people were concerned about the frost and believes that the coming weekend will see sales fit for a long weekend. At the city's Ladybug Florist, Kim Limton said customers took note of the cold weather and left purchases at the store to be picked up later in the week when temperatures rise.
The lines were short at garden centres in Montreal where rain and low temperatures stuck around for most of the weekend. Pointe Claire Nursery on the West Island, Réno-Dépot in Notre Dame de Grâce and at Pépinière Jasmin in St. Laurent all reported slow sales to the Montreal Gazette.
"There are fewer people shopping, and we have to tell them it's not
really a good idea to plant for the next two days," Pépinière Jasmin owner Pierre Jasmin told the newspaper "There's practically nothing we can put in the garden right now."
How were your long weekend sales? How are you planing to get more customers out this coming weekend? E-mail aryder@annexweb.com with your comments.
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