Dobbies to close some of their centres.

Dobies is no longer a place to buy plants! Anything else... clothes, birthday cards, toys, bakery.... probably!
Hopefully people will turn to small private plant nurseries who grow their own stock and have a depth of knowledge you simply don't get in 'garden centres'.

Dobbies nearest us is 23 miles. I'm not impressed, won't miss it.

My local one is on the list, a shame really but it has been on a downward spiral ever since Dobbies took over. The cafe is exactly as described by others, completely hopeless. They always seem to have plenty of staff but none of them actually doing anything. The queue takes forever, the service is unbelievably slow even if you are second in the queue. How strange this is a common issue across the stores, this is clearly an issue they have not addressed.

Mine is going - a great pity as it's only 15 minutes walk away, and made for a nice afternoon out. But it was never as good as when it was Wyevale. Shall miss the Cotton Traders shop! My next nearest garden centre (not Dobbies) is a bus ride away. They are keeping the Dobbies the other side of town but it's a hassle for me to get to as I no longer drive.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.