A HUGE garden centre in the UK is set to close after launching a “final clearance” sale.
The independent store, which also boasts a cafe, made the announcement on social media.
In a blow to shoppers and gardening enthusiasts, the Bellflower Garden Centre in Ipswich said in a statement it is to close in October.
This follows a string of garden centre closures this year.
Local garden centre Webb’s, located in Bearwood, West Mids, which has been passed down through five generations, announced it was shuttering after 105 years.
Meanwhile, Dobbies, a major garden centre chain, also announced it was closing almost all of its stores for an entire 24-hour period in April.
This followed an announcement in 2024 that it was axing 12 stores, with another, Hare Hatch, in Berkshire, shutting up shop on January 31, 2025.
Bellflower is now holding a sale to clear its stock, which includes British-grown plants, supplements, bedding, and garden accessories.
With a huge range of animal feeds, the centre is also popular with pet owners in the area.
A statement posted on Facebook reads: “The garden centre will be closing down by the end of October.
“Most lines are already reduced to clear, and the rest will be added over the next couple of weeks, so head on over to grab some bargains!”
The news of the closure and sale was met with dismay among customers, with many posting messages of support for the owners.
Customer support
One person wrote on Facebook: “So sorry to hear this.
“I wish you all the best for your next venture.”
Another person wrote: “Really sorry to hear this Gareth.
“Best of luck for whatever comes next. Thank you for looking after us horsey people so well!”
A third person posted: “That is such a shame!”
A fourth person said: “Oh no. Sorry to hear this.”
Sign of the times
The closure of the Bellflower Garden Centre is another sign of the difficulties facing small businesses in the UK, with the high street particularly affected by a £40bn hike in tax earlier this year and the rise of online shopping.
Several brands have been forced to shutter shops this year after running costs soared.
Just this month, charity shop chain Scope closed three stores after shuttering more than 50 shops this year.
The closures come after a consultation process earlier this year.
In total, the chain is considering shutting 77 of its 138 shops across the country.
The Original Factory Shop has also closed a string of stores this year.
Among them is its shop in Inverness, which has launched a 50 per cent off closing down sale.
Meanwhile, New Look has shut scores of stores after it called in advisers to carry out a strategic review of the fashion chain.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
