High Terrain

by Danny Summers

You are in HIGH TERRAIN today. You are and we all know it. The image above might be a micro respite from today's hectic pace, but what I am referring to is the HIGH TERRAIN of the new levels of your Garden Center sales during the Spring of 2021. This in on top of the mountain of sales most Centers developed in 2020.

With 2020 in the rear-view mirror, we were wondering if you could even match, not to mention build upon last year's performance. Seeing Week 18 (May 3-9, 2021) results just in last Friday provides a very positive outlook for surpassing 2020. Let's compare a few figures against this time last year and now.

• Week 19 2020 YTD Sales (May 4-10, 2020): +18.8% YTD
• Week 18 2021 YTD Sales (May 3-9, 2021):   +54.4% YTD

The last half of May 2020 posted a number of record weeks and added another +10% on top of earlier gains. Here's a look at where May 2020 ended:

• Week 22 2020 YTD Sales (May 25-31, 2020): +28.8% YTD

The month of June 2020 certainly carried on the prior increases and held onto the earlier gains:

• Week 27 2020 YTD Sales (Jun 29-Jul 05, 2020): +26.6% YTD

By the end of June 2020, the Sales increase above was the results of an almost even split between Average Sale and Transaction Count gains (+13.2% and +12.8% respectively). Our current 2021 YTD figures (Week 18) shows Transactions Counts are driving 2021 gains while Average Sale is slighting ahead (+49.3% and +2.3% respectively). This is no surprise with Centers being fully open this year and the customer can return as often as they wish.

The image here is the total Group's YTD Sales as of Week 18 and as you can see, sales gains range from +117.6% in Northeast & Nova Scotia to +15.2% in Mountains West for a total Group increase of +54.4%.

During the next few weeks most Centers are up against the HIGH TERRAIN sales of late May and early June of 2020.

How will the two Spring comparisons end up? Do we have enough earlier sales this year to offset the HIGH TERRAIN of the next few weeks of 2020?

As I said earlier, seeing the current Week 18 figures it appears to be a very positive outlook for surpassing 2020. Only time will tell (and a tremendous amount of effort and hard work to manage your Center in the balance of the season and 2021 as a whole). I have seen and heard the words of exhaustion coming from many of our Centers, but my bet is on you to hold onto much of the current YTD gains.

You are The Best in the Industry, especially in HIGH TERRAIN!