Are Garden Centres the new department stores?

I’m with you vegansrock I also like staff who are knowledgeable about plants, a proper nursery, we have one very local and one a few miles away.

ones near us sell pets and pet supplies; posh salvage at inflated prices; gift items like Sass and Belle, oh and those lovely Wrendale which are way too expensive; posh food at inflated prices; there is loads of furniture not just the humble deckchair more stuff to go outside than inside; yes and loads of cafes one has an outside one which is nice but a bit chaotic, another inside which has nice bar stools to sit on which I cannot get on! cramped little one with benches; another where they only do smoked salmon for breakfast no fry ups; more books calendars and diaries taking over slowly at this time of year along with cakes puddings sweets chocs all manner of festive food

I can’t stand those huge garden centres stuffed with Chinese made tat. The one I like best is a proper nursery selling plants they’ve grown themselves or from local growers, not bought in bulk from the Netherlands. They’ve got a nice cafe and a tiny shop just selling seeds and bulbs and basic gardening stuff. The prices of the plants are far cheaper than those huge centres too.

Yes I suspect you’re correct MOnica. The demise of the department store left a huge gap and the big garden centres have stepped right into it.
It’s hard now to find a traditional garden centre, where the owners grow most of their produce and can give good advice

I do so hope they don't. Can't think of anything worse.
My local one, family owned since the 1700, grow their own plants and haven't gone the way of clothing, it's my haven, lovely cafe, outside plenty of well stocked healthy plants and all things gardening, both in and out. They do put on a lovely Christmas display too. Always a popular meeting place for old and the young, staffed by local people, and I hope it stays that way.

I think garden centres have evolved to become the new ‘leisure hubs’ for people who want to get out for a few hours and mooch around, look at nice things and find bits to enhance their homes and gardens, which we spend most time in these days. They haven’t replaced department stores in the sense of buy everything you need here, and you wouldn’t go to them for the best price on anything, but they fill what would otherwise be a leisure void. My local one is excellent, it wins lots of awards, and best of all I think is that in a very rural area it provides a good number of people with jobs. All power to them.

My Sis in Law lives near Bridgemere Garden Centre.
It’s vast and seems to sell hust about everything! I’ve been once and loved it. Nothing like that here…
My nearest garden centre is tiny, only plants and compost, but the cafe does a roaring trade.
Next nearest is a small family run place, on the expensive side, then the rest are Dobbies, so all alike.
I think the free parking is part of the attraction and at Dobbies there are often tables where people are having vocational meetings.

I enjoy mooching round a Garden Centre, always have a good wonder at the other stuff before getting down to the serious plant buying.

Tasty cafe/bistro’s a bonus.

We have such a one local to us too. I don’t know why they still call it a garden centre - anything garden related is pretty much an afterthought now, and a very expensive one. They will be very busy at the moment turning it into a Winter Wonderland. I don’t go there very often - proper garden centres are available - but they do have a decent shoe shop.

I have a friend who had a gift shop on the same site as one if these huge "garden centres". She was absolutely furious that during Lockdown she wasn't allowed to open but the Garden centre was - and was allowed to carry on selling all the non-gardening items which included lots of gifts similar to what she sold.

Yes I think they are except you need a car to get to our nearest one 5 miles away out of town. No regular bus or train. Apart from the actual gardening stuff, everything else you would have bought in a store in town such as Debenhams. I don't think thwy have caused the demise of the High Street, but have benefited from it
Our one is very big. The queues for the checkout are enormous. I rarely go, even though the outside plant section is wonderful, as it exhausts me and the large car park is always busy. Probably haven't been for 4 years.