Sales Spike Signals Spring Trends

18 October, 2012

Sales Spike Signals Spring Trends

Weather forecasters predictions of a better summer seem to have been taken to heart by shoppers if early spring trends at New Zealand’s largest home improvement retailer, Mitre 10, are anything to go by.

With the advent of spring, demand for outdoor furniture and other popular outdoor lines has been strong with early season sales of outdoor furniture already well ahead of last year according to Mitre 10 General Manager Marketing, Dave Elliott.

“We’re already way ahead of where we were this time last year on sales of outdoor furniture,” said Mr Elliott. “As the number one home improvement and gardening retail chain we tend to see trends emerging early in the piece ahead of others in the market and this year it looks like it’s the creatop, aluminium and hardwood outdoor lines doing very well along with soft furnishings and more aesthetic pieces.

“The settings with more unique designs are being snapped up with with some ranges selling out and others close to it. People seem to be increasingly looking for ways to extend their homes by creating an outside room.”

A nationwide Mitre 10 MEGA outdoor furniture expo held recently continued the upturn with sales up almost 10% on last year. Both Mitre 10 and Mitre 10 MEGA stores across the country are preparing for another strong weekend with the traditional labour weekend rush.

“We’re expecting a similar flurry of activity this Labour Weekend as it’s typically the time of year people mentally switch season and start preparing for summer, particularly gardeners.”

Mitre 10 has also seen the trend for home grown vegetables, established during tough economic times, and healthy living continuing with gardening supplies in demand in preparation for what is predicted to be a much-improved summer.

“In September 2011 we saw vegetable seedling sales rocket, especially lettuce and broccoli. In response to high vegetable prices in supermarkets and grocery stores, more New Zealanders grew their own.

“It seems once people got out into the garden they’ve found they quite enjoy it so are continuing regardless of economic conditions. This year we’re seeing a similar trend early on, with sales of vegetable cell-packs up over 40%, herbs up around 6% and tomatoes looking likely to be the pick of the crop for Kiwis.

“Sales of our exclusive Gourmet Campari Tomato plant are tracking well. They’ve been selling fast in the few weeks they’ve been in stock. In one weekend alone we doubled our sales of tomatoes and we’re forecasting even better weekends to come. Customers wanting to grow Campari’s can only buy the plant from Mitre 10 and Mitre 10 MEGA stores otherwise they have to buy the grown tomato from the supermarket.

“It’s usually more cost effective to grow your own and we’re finding many people are wanting to eat and grow fresh enjoying the certaintly of knowing exactly what chemicals and substances have or haven’t been used during the growing process.”

In the flower bed, a plant introduced to the New Zealand market this season is leading the way.

“The most popular plant for the garden is the colourful new black and yellow Petunia Bumble Bee with stores reporting near sell-outs of this new variety that’s been stocked for just a few weeks, Mr Elliott said.”

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About Mitre 10 NZ

Mitre 10 has been a part of New Zealand’s DIY culture since 1974, as a Kiwi owned and operated co-operative completely separate from Mitre 10 Australia.

Wholly New Zealand owned and predominatly locally operated with around 100 stores from Invercargill to Kaitaia. Mitre 10 is more than twice the size of its nearest competitor and continues to grow through both share of market and number of stores. In 2004 Mitre 10 NZ opened its first Mitre 10 MEGA store in Hastings and today there are 33 Mega stores with plans to have 44 stores by 2016.

To support this expansion Mitre 10 has expanded its supplier network in both New Zealand and China, steadily building upon its competitive advantage, great pricing and increased range for customers.

Many New Zealanders have grown up with Mitre 10 and trust the brand so much so that it has been awarded the most trusted brand in New Zealand in home improvement retailing on three occasions.

ENDS

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