Thinking outside the box
Reaching a different audience with Little Dobbies For the first of our “Thinking outside the box” articles GTN caught up with Dobbies Horticultural Director, Marcus Eyles, in their Chiswick store in West London to find out more about what has driven the development of Little Dobbies
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his year saw the introduction by Dobbies of Little Dobbies, their brand new format of store into Chiswick, Westbourne Grove and Richmond in London, bringing the total number of stores in the Dobbies estate to 74. This follows on from the successful launch of Little Dobbies stores in Edinburgh (November 2020) and Bristol (May 2021). GTN met with Dobbies Horticultural Director, Marcus Eyles, in their Chiswick store in West London to find out how the Little Dobbies format differs from that in the rest of their estate and the opportunity the stores present in terms of reaching the growing number of gardening and houseplant enthusiasts that are city-based. So what has driven this move into urban conurbations and what does the future look like for further developments? Marcus Eyles explains,
“We have a further store in Richmond, which opened in November, with other sites in the pipeline for 2022. Whilst London is great and there is a gap here we are looking to move into other cities too to help raise brand awareness amongst city dwellers that have an interest but wouldn’t necessarily visit a garden centre. It is interesting as for many people their local Dobbies isn’t necessarily on their doorstep but they call in when they are visiting family and friends, commuting etc. The addition of Little Dobbies has been the obvious next step in the development of the company, following the expansion of the estate through the purchase of Wyevale stores. In terms of a traditional garden centre, it is difficult to find suitable sites within cities and so a different format was required. With the events of the last couple of years finding suitable sites has become a little easier with our agents being very good at finding ideal locations, such as
There’s just room for a small range of relevant gardening products in Little Dobbies
this one, situated on a junction with brands like Waitrose and Boots, on our doorstep. In the past, there was always the question of whether there was a market for our products amongst city dwellers. Now, we know that there is what with the massive resurgence of interest in houseplants and the addition of new gardeners to the market through lockdown. The desire to shop locally has become key in everything and people are changing their shopping habits in line with this. Little Dobbies stores help fulfil that need within the urban conurbations.
Houseplants are the stars at Little Dobbies where staff are constantly asked for advice as the shop attracts new customers
6 November / December 2021
www.gardentradenews.co.uk
