Gone very quiet
Discussion
GardeningEcomm said:
Online Gardening products reporting here.
Nov-Feb is our 'off-season' with sales down -30% on last year.
Did it ever stop raining?
March is a more important month for us.
Looking like we will end up with our March sales around -20% down on last year.
We can live with this - though disappointing the weather has been dreadful
(mind you March 2023 had poor weather too)
Slightly concerning that this month includes the run up to Easter when it fell in April last year.
Being a seasonal I'm hoping 'first in, first out' regarding the recession.
Feb 2022 was close to the start of our season when sales really started slowing down
After two poor years I'm busy looking for those 'green shoots'
Weather has been shocking and has affected many business sectors. Rainfall for much of the UK is above any of the last 5 years and well above 25 year averages.Nov-Feb is our 'off-season' with sales down -30% on last year.
Did it ever stop raining?
March is a more important month for us.
Looking like we will end up with our March sales around -20% down on last year.
We can live with this - though disappointing the weather has been dreadful
(mind you March 2023 had poor weather too)
Slightly concerning that this month includes the run up to Easter when it fell in April last year.
Being a seasonal I'm hoping 'first in, first out' regarding the recession.
Feb 2022 was close to the start of our season when sales really started slowing down
After two poor years I'm busy looking for those 'green shoots'
Leisure: e.g. some golf clubs have barely opened in the last 7 months.
Agriculture: farms losing crops or, opinion many cases, literally under water.
Construction: simply too wet to tackle a whole range of jobs.
If we have a month or more of very low rainfall, it might dry out, but otherwise there is a significant problem. The climate change - matters not your personal view on whether natural or anthropomorphic - is a very real challenge.
Digga said:
eather has been shocking and has affected many business sectors. Rainfall for much of the UK is above any of the last 5 years and well above 25 year averages.
Leisure: e.g. some golf clubs have barely opened in the last 7 months.
Agriculture: farms losing crops or, opinion many cases, literally under water.
Construction: simply too wet to tackle a whole range of jobs.
If we have a month or more of very low rainfall, it might dry out, but otherwise there is a significant problem. The climate change - matters not your personal view on whether natural or anthropomorphic - is a very real challenge.
I think agriculture is going to be where people start to notice the real impacts of this wet weather as food prices adjust accordingly.Leisure: e.g. some golf clubs have barely opened in the last 7 months.
Agriculture: farms losing crops or, opinion many cases, literally under water.
Construction: simply too wet to tackle a whole range of jobs.
If we have a month or more of very low rainfall, it might dry out, but otherwise there is a significant problem. The climate change - matters not your personal view on whether natural or anthropomorphic - is a very real challenge.
Rain ahs destroyed any chance of ebike retailing returning. Our demographic (your parents) will not - quite understandably - ride in the sort of conditions we've had for the last 6 months. With the increasingly desperate tactics of the Big 4 (Specialized, Trek, Cannondale and Giant) to shift some of the acres of oversupplied product there really is very little point in buying in stock for the "season". It's almost April and nobody has sold anything. Wiggle are now offering 20-30% discounts on Trek and Cannondale, not just the rubbish they used to stock. Big dealerships with decades of relationship with Big 4 are now pulling the plug on the back of them increasingly going B2C and repeatedly cutting margins. Fortunately for us our cafe is booming !
GardeningEcomm said:
Online Gardening products reporting here.
Nov-Feb is our 'off-season' with sales down -30% on last year.
Did it ever stop raining?
March is a more important month for us.
Looking like we will end up with our March sales around -20% down on last year.
We can live with this - though disappointing the weather has been dreadful
(mind you March 2023 had poor weather too)
Slightly concerning that this month includes the run up to Easter when it fell in April last year.
Being a seasonal I'm hoping 'first in, first out' regarding the recession.
Feb 2022 was close to the start of our season when sales really started slowing down
After two poor years I'm busy looking for those 'green shoots'
I'd have thought you'll be okay once the weather picks up - people will still maintain their gardens... after all if they're not spending on holidays and trips away, they'll want to keep their patch at home tidy.Nov-Feb is our 'off-season' with sales down -30% on last year.
Did it ever stop raining?
March is a more important month for us.
Looking like we will end up with our March sales around -20% down on last year.
We can live with this - though disappointing the weather has been dreadful
(mind you March 2023 had poor weather too)
Slightly concerning that this month includes the run up to Easter when it fell in April last year.
Being a seasonal I'm hoping 'first in, first out' regarding the recession.
Feb 2022 was close to the start of our season when sales really started slowing down
After two poor years I'm busy looking for those 'green shoots'
The weather has been shocking though... Easter normally marks the start of our season, kids are off school for a couple of weeks, but who wants to entertain warming up an outdoor pool when its constantly pissing it down.
Timetoleave said:
Rain ahs destroyed any chance of ebike retailing returning. Our demographic (your parents) will not - quite understandably - ride in the sort of conditions we've had for the last 6 months. With the increasingly desperate tactics of the Big 4 (Specialized, Trek, Cannondale and Giant) to shift some of the acres of oversupplied product there really is very little point in buying in stock for the "season". It's almost April and nobody has sold anything. Wiggle are now offering 20-30% discounts on Trek and Cannondale, not just the rubbish they used to stock. Big dealerships with decades of relationship with Big 4 are now pulling the plug on the back of them increasingly going B2C and repeatedly cutting margins. Fortunately for us our cafe is booming !
E-bikes are not up to the Great British weather. My Specialized Levo turbo lost a few of the battery and mode LED’s on a very wet ride in the Lakes in December. I have tried to keep riding, despite the weather, but had been using the analog Mtb in February. When I came to use the e-bike, it was non responsive. New battery cable replaced under warranty.Everyone I ride with on e-bikes has had some sort of warranty issue this winter.
We are a bit hardcore (I have 2 full sets of waterproofs
) and, as you say, there are very, very few other riders about.We opened a shop in mid-November selling stationery, art and craft supplies, kids toys and locally produced artisan gifts. In a small (950 people) village in Aberdeenshire but on a main road with a cluster of other shops here. A great start in the run-up to Christmas but then deathly quiet in January and not much better in February.
March was already a big improvement on the previous two months, and on Thursday we finally got a sign up on the building (planning delays - building is 228 years old and listed). Much better than one stuck in the window! Anyway, Friday trading was great and yesterday was one of the best trading days we've had.
So there is hope! Opening retail - especially this kind of retail - in rural Scotland in the winter could be described as brave. But we've got a USP and the shops in the village are starting to cross-promote each other...
March was already a big improvement on the previous two months, and on Thursday we finally got a sign up on the building (planning delays - building is 228 years old and listed). Much better than one stuck in the window! Anyway, Friday trading was great and yesterday was one of the best trading days we've had.
So there is hope! Opening retail - especially this kind of retail - in rural Scotland in the winter could be described as brave. But we've got a USP and the shops in the village are starting to cross-promote each other...
Local butchers said they were very busy yesterday, though pretty sure he said Easter is busiest time of year for their tourist footfall.
(Think Christmas is likely higher revenue)
Also Waitrose delivery driver said it was busiest he’d seen it yesterday.
My 8-9pm delivery turned up at 10pm!
(Think Christmas is likely higher revenue)
Also Waitrose delivery driver said it was busiest he’d seen it yesterday.
My 8-9pm delivery turned up at 10pm!
We had a disappointing Easter sales weekend which I'll put down to the pissy wet weather.... I'd usually expect ~100 orders over the four days but we only came in to 50 or so.
Overall the second half of March was okay with a couple of big ticket items sold, so we only finished around 5% down on March '23.
Overall the second half of March was okay with a couple of big ticket items sold, so we only finished around 5% down on March '23.
Not very scientific but first reactions from the Easter tourist season down here in the South West are not great.
Combination of the early Easter and the poor weather (and it has been really poor) has resulted in low volume of bookings for holiday cottages.
Most campsites didn't bother opening due to the residual water logging of the fields.
Knock on effect in local shops, businesses and restaurants has been considerable - normally at Easter you would need to be booking tables days in advance (even pre-covid) but pretty much everywhere has walk-ins including over the Easter weekend.
We've just started doing a holiday rental and had a booking over Easter, forward bookings for the bank holiday weekends and June is looking healthily full but nothing booked in July / August yet. Taking a straw poll of neighbours on the dog walk this morning indicated this is doing well this year.
Fingers crossed the weather picks up, I felt for the families cycling on the Camel Trail this afternoon struggling on with kids crying in the howling wind and rain. I suspect most of them will be going abroad next holiday!
Combination of the early Easter and the poor weather (and it has been really poor) has resulted in low volume of bookings for holiday cottages.
Most campsites didn't bother opening due to the residual water logging of the fields.
Knock on effect in local shops, businesses and restaurants has been considerable - normally at Easter you would need to be booking tables days in advance (even pre-covid) but pretty much everywhere has walk-ins including over the Easter weekend.
We've just started doing a holiday rental and had a booking over Easter, forward bookings for the bank holiday weekends and June is looking healthily full but nothing booked in July / August yet. Taking a straw poll of neighbours on the dog walk this morning indicated this is doing well this year.
Fingers crossed the weather picks up, I felt for the families cycling on the Camel Trail this afternoon struggling on with kids crying in the howling wind and rain. I suspect most of them will be going abroad next holiday!
kent_phil said:
We've just started doing a holiday rental and had a booking over Easter, forward bookings for the bank holiday weekends and June is looking healthily full but nothing booked in July / August yet. Taking a straw poll of neighbours on the dog walk this morning indicated this is doing well this year.
We have had a holiday let for nine years. Thankfully we get a lot of repeat bookings and should get enough nights to qualify for the tax advantages. However we are bucking the trend. We have also noted that a lot of holiday let properties have been listed for sale on Rightmove. The smaller properties are selling, but very little over four bedrooms. I anticipate that Devon and Cornwall will be a lot quieter this year. They wanted rid of the tourists, it looks like they will get their wish.
kent_phil said:
Fingers crossed the weather picks up, I felt for the families cycling on the Camel Trail this afternoon struggling on with kids crying in the howling wind and rain. I suspect most of them will be going abroad next holiday!
That was us some years ago. We were in a log cabin and it pissed down for the entire week, with the cabin just getting wetter and wetter - spend a fortune on the electric heating with a 50p slot meter! Wife said "never again"!I am currently sat on a holiday park just outside Dawlish. Heated indoor pool, gym, restaurant, bar, etc etc - my version of hell actually - but I reckon nearly a third of the mobile homes are unoccupied. On Easter Tuesday. Getting a table in a local pub that we usually have to book weeks in advance for hasn't been a problem.
Weather is s
t but this place should be heaving.
Weather is s
t but this place should be heaving.
kent_phil said:
Fingers crossed the weather picks up, I felt for the families cycling on the Camel Trail this afternoon struggling on with kids crying in the howling wind and rain. I suspect most of them will be going abroad next holiday!
My sister has just got back from a week in Morroco. She says it rained all week and there is nothing as depressing as a camel ride in the rain, it also means the camels pong more than normal! She actually prefers to go to Wales for her hols!Ean218 said:
My sister has just got back from a week in Morroco. She says it rained all week and there is nothing as depressing as a camel ride in the rain, it also means the camels pong more than normal! She actually prefers to go to Wales for her hols!
Winter is technically Dec to Feb and so going in early March to anywhere in the UK is always likely to be grim weather.Unlucky with Morocco though!
I'm off to West Cornwall next week in our caravan with the dogs. Not overly fussed about the weather, they'll get worn out on the beach and we gave central heating and the box set of the West Wing.
It's sort of a test run for the caravan for the year (read Le Mans) to check it's all working OK after winter lay up.
It's sort of a test run for the caravan for the year (read Le Mans) to check it's all working OK after winter lay up.
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