Reinventing the independent garden centre

Hort Journal Australia · AU|Article|February 2026

Reinventing the independent garden centre

The Australian launch of the Adapt or Die series. It traces the arc of the sector from the first garden centres in the mid-1950s through the boom decades, and then through the three shifts that cost independents ground: hardware retailers building product-led garden departments alongside their stores, most independents failing to evolve at all, and Baby Boomer customers being replaced by generations who buy for sustainability, pollinators and food rather than flower colour. Set against a general retail rule of minor changes every two to three years and a major overhaul every five to seven, the article makes the case that many garden centres simply stopped. What follows is the series' central question — not whether to change, but what to change and why.

http://hortjournal.com.au/2026/02/reinventing-the-independent-garden-centre/