Retailer focus: Garsons

Inset: The exterior of Garsons, Esher. Bottom right: The recently expanded Cookshop area, running up to the Farm Shop at Garsons in Esher. Bottom: For the great outdoors: one of the new fixtures at Garsons in Esher displays ‘on the go’ products and picnicware, including coolbags and picnic rugs. Inset: Eco-friendly picnicware and outdoor dining accessories on display at Garsons in Titchfield.

enterprise Fruitful

Garsons, the winner of the first ever Best Garden Centre title in The Excellence in Housewares Awards 2020 is celebrating 150 years of business. The retailer’s success lies in its constant evolution, according to buyer Sarah Crees, who tells PH what makes Garsons in Esher and Titchfield so very special.

Garsons is “always evolving,” says Sarah Crees, who has spent almost two decades as a buyer for the family-run business, which has two garden centres located in the villages of Esher in Surrey and Titchfield in Hampshire. The latest developments include linking Esher’s Farm Shop to its garden centre building. Completed last October, this provided a newly expanded space for Cookshop and Gift Food, positioned appropriately in the area before a wealth of ingredients. “The department was also treated to lovely new fixtures, which has helped with merchandising and customer flow,” Sarah explains. She adds: “Titchfield’s housewares department also sits next to its Farm Shop and the flow works perfectly.” Both sites have their housewares offering over the last couple of years “to satisfy demand for additional ranges and brands,” Sarah confirms. In her view, variety and newness is what makes Garsons stand out. “We have a great mix of big brands and smaller artisan suppliers that keeps our offerings interesting, as well as the displays created in-house by our amazing teams.” She cites one of her favourite local

Blooming marvellous

Sarah Crees has spent 19 years at Garsons, having joined as an assistant buyer on the shop floor at Esher. In 2015, she became central buyer for both Garsons’ garden centres, taking her away from the retail frontline. Her wide remit covers cookshop and gifts, as well as home fragrance, books and toys.

“Garsons is a lovely place to work,” she enthuses. “When you drive through the village of Esher, you may think you’ve taken a wrong turn as we are so rural. We are extremely lucky with our picturesque locations, with the bonus of having one of the UK’s largest Pick Your Own fruit, vegetable and flower farms at the Esher site.”

The retailer has “very strong links” to the communities it serves, with lots of “positive feedback” from its local initiatives. Garsons’ charities of the year for 2021 are Princess Alice Hospice and the Portsmouth Hospitals Charity and Intensive Care Unit. It donated ‘thank you’ packages for staff dealing with Covid patients last year. Meanwhile, Garsons has supported the horticultural and environmental curriculum at a local primary school for over a decade.

Sarah acknowledges: “For me, the people make Garsons special, dedicated to ensuring we inspire our customers and offer something to suit every taste.”

suppliers, Toasted Crumpet, which is “only about 10 miles away from our Esher site and has beautiful ranges of ceramics and gifts.” Particularly strong categories for the past year include - as most would agree – baking, as well as barware. “Home cocktails had accelerated in popularity even before lockdowns,” reflects Sarah. She continues: “Entertaining - including barware - will continue to have a big influence on our housewares selections this year, especially with being able to eat indoors as well as outdoors as Covid restrictions ease.” Garsons’ range of eco-friendly kitchen and household products are another notable area of growth, ranging from cleaning brushes to cake tray liners. “Sustainability is creeping into every product area, which is really positive. It’s something that is important to our customers, so I will be looking to increase our current selection even further,” Sarah notes. Products for outdoor dining grew last year “when everyone could picnic in the summer.” Besides expanding its outdoor product ranges, Garsons cross merchandises its throws and blankets with

picnicware and display outdoor tableware in lifestyle settings in its outdoor furniture sections. “The relief of being able to meet up outside in groups has meant that many people don’t care what the weather is like, as long as they can use a throw to keep warm,” Sarah observes. “When you’ve been stuck indoors, you’ll do anything to get out! People have also been spending more time and money on their gardens, so want to make the most of them.” Reflecting on the past year, Sarah comments: “We were very, very lucky and extremely privileged to be one of the first industries to reopen, and also remain open throughout Christmas and into 2021. We implemented all Covid-safety measures to ensure our customers and staff felt safe and our spacious shopfloor layout and building style has really helped with this.” She is now enthusiastic about the return to face-to-face buying, admitting: “For me, no access to shows has been difficult when sourcing new suppliers and products and I’m really looking forward to their return, especially Harrogate Home & Gift in July and Exclusively in August.”

Inset: Displays, including preserving, textiles and kitchen storage at Garsons in Titchfield.

A growing family

Garsons’ directors are all descendants of its founder, George Henry Thompson, who established his growing business in Esher’s West End Village in 1871. George specialised in vegetable production, selling to greengrocers through London’s Borough Market.

During the war, the Thompsons’ business helped the war efforts by increasing its food production, with land girls and prisoners of war helping with the harvesting.

The family business continued to supply London greengrocers with fresh produce until the 1970s, when supermarkets rose to dominance, sourcing from international suppliers. The Thompsons then started selling at retail to the local community and developed a Pick Your Own business, Farm Shop and Garden Centre. In 1999, Garsons opened its second site at Titchfield, having bought a local nursery.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the business, Garsons is introducing a selection of branded products “with a beautiful logo and artwork of our 150-year story from a local artist,” reports Sarah. Items include a reusable water bottle and coffee cup, reusable bags, a special pale ale glass and a drinking glass. There are more bespoke products in development for the Christmas season.

Inset: Proud winners: members of the Garsons team with the trophy for Excellence in Housewares Awards 2021 Best Garden Centre.

Who will be 2021’s retail award winners?

The Excellence in Housewares Awards 2021 is open for entries from retailers, and nominations from suppliers, with a deadline of July 9.

Best Garden Centre (eligible for both independents and multiples) was a new category introduced at the start of 2020, along with Best Supermarket.

The Best Independent Cookshop was another new award title introduced last year, reflecting the widening of this category to include all independent cookshops in the UK, and not just Bira members.

Of course, the EIH Awards also recognise department stores (independent and multiple or group members) and housewares multiples or small groups. Training, display, and retail initiatives are all celebrated by the Awards, which also recognise the amazing feats of retail employees who go to great lengths to serve customers and promote housewares products.

If you know retailers who deserves recognition, please make your nominations now. Or if you are a retailer, then shout about your achievements. E: email joh@max-publishing.co.uk or see W: www.excellenceinhousewaresawards.co.uk