Dobbies to close some of their centres.

Nearest to us is two miles away it's not on the list but it wouldn't surprise me if it closed. The cafe has always been no good never enough staff and poor quality food. They have recently greatly reduced what they sell. There is alot of empty floor space there now.

They have been in a spot of trouble for a long time.
Staff numbers down and not particularly good employers.

The original Dobbies is very close to where I live. It used to be a 'proper' garden centre, with most of the plants grown on site, but as it expanded and the business was sold (a few times over), it's gradually got away from that and become - as others have said on the other garden centre thread - almost like a kind of department store now. Ours is still very popular and very busy though.

Thank you, T. Happily my 'local' does not appear on your list. However on my last visit I reckon the balance of plants and goods was 50/50 and that's not planty enough for me.

I think they were owned at one time by Tesco or the parent company of Tesco.
I don’t know if that is still so.

Gosh, I’m glad ours isn’t on the list! It’s within a few minutes walk and very handy as it has a small Waitrose inside. The cafe is very popular and I like its range of non-plant goods, where I often pick up nice birthday presents.

Gosforth will affect me - my DGS2 loves the little soft play area there.

I used to frequent one on my lunch break from work. I stopped going because the cafe was the most disorganised and inefficient I have been in- complete chaos and I could never understand how they could get it so wrong!

The shop was good though- bought lots of things there over the years. I see it isn't on the list.

Never seen or heard of these they don’t appear to be in my neck of the woods

Went to one in Shepton Mallet. The service in the cafe was terrible!!!

Ours isn’t on the list. I don’t go there very often but it’s a handy place to meet another gransnetter occasionally who lives not far from me.

Ours isn't on the list, but I feel vindicated reading how many other people are criticising the cafés!

A few years ago ours was great, my friend and I took our minded children every Friday for breakfast and it was a highlight of our week.

Now? A minimum 20 minutes queue for a cup of coffee. Staff are obviously thin on the ground and stressed.

Lunch is available from midday, no problem with that, but having queued for over half an hour one day for coffee I wasn't allowed to even order lunch at 11:45. I'd have to queue all over again after 12, so didn't bother 🤷

I still go there as they have a Hotter outlet, but we come back to our local family-run garden centre for coffee afterwards!

We have 3 branches of Dobbies near us none are on the list. We visit them quite regularly, but do not often buy plants. It's more for a day out and a cup of tea and an empire biscuit.

I see ours is on the list. They only bought it, from a previous national chain, a few years ago. They are planning to build a huge new one about ten miles away up the motorway, so I guess they think that it won't be worth running another one relatively close.

Ours is going. Disappointed as we have used it quite a lot over the years. It wasn't always Dobbies but has changed hands a couple of times, so I'm hoping
someone else will take it over.

I'm not surprised. It has really nothing to offer me since our Wyvales became a Dobbies. It is overpriced and underwhelming. I get frustrated that they don't seem to be able to show the prices properly either. I used to go regularly to the cafe but that has become expensive without the quality I can get at other places locally. I do feel sorry for the staff who will lose their jobs though.

I live near 2 dobbies...both not on list.....one I've never been to....the other been to twice .....in and out for something specific.....never used the cafe or looked around the shop bit...everyone i know says they are overpriced .....they do a santa meet and greet at Christmas which gets booked up

The "Little Dobies" Chiswick is a just a shop selling indoor plants and pots. It's not very busy and the staff in there are lovely. I don't think that it's been open long.

Ours in Antrim is closing it has only been going about 18 months. I have contacted them about money out of my bank account on 30th September I hadn't been in the store since August.

Ours is closing, not surprised, expensive shop and poor quality cafe, shame for the staff.

The thread you refer to was under Chat ‘Are garden centres the latest department stores?’ Our nearest Dobies is about three miles away, but we have two excellent ones, one within walking distance and the second a long walk or a 5 minute drive away. On the odd occasion I’ve been to Dobies I wasn’t that impressed, but if it was the only local gc I would be very disappointed if it closed.

Our nearest one is Gosforth which is on the list. However we never go there. We occasionally visit the Ponteland Dobbies which is a short, pleasant drive away.

Meant to add that Ponteland isn't on the list. We do buy plants there sometimes but there is a smaller garden centre nearby and dh seems to think their plants are fresher so we wouldn't really miss the Ponteland Dobbies if it did close. Dobbies seems to have lost it's way a bit. Doesn't know whether it wants to be a garden centre or a general retail store.

I would be unhappy if Dobbies in Boston closed, it’s not local as we’re in Skegness so around 22 miles each way but it’s just round the corner from the hospital, a good place to stop for a coffee pre or post appointments.
It seems Dobbies is getting more and more like British Garden Centre branches, my husband says they are restaurants that sell plants!