setting up an allotment shop

[superdupa]

Hi all,a bit of advice needed please.Has any of you on your sites have a shop to sell compost ,lime ,fertilizer etc.The question I have is that our association of which I am a committee member are going to set up a shop and I have the unenviable task of sourcing .I have asked a neighbouring shop 6 miles away where they get some of the supplies from but was rebuked.Any advice will be much appreciated.

[elvis2003]

whereabouts are you? we in liverpool use altys,very good range of stuff,it arrives when they say it will and free delivery for orders over 100 quid

[goodlife]

Hi there...where about are you?
Our society does have lotty shop. We buy in bulk from local(ish) horticultural suppliers.
We try to buy ours in two biggish orders so we can get bulk discount and keep our prices down. Majority of the fertilizers are bought in sacks and the measured and divided into smaller amounts that are easier and more convenient for buyers.
We print our price list yearly for all members and these are sent together with AGM invites...otherwise price list is shown in shop.
With many if wholesale companies you just have to ring and ask their catalogue..and then ring again to negotiate the price for you..many of them are quite willing to tailor the prices depending how much you can spend in one go.
It is quite a job to get it all started but once you have your shop up and running its not that bad after that.
One of the companies we use is LBS Horticultural suppliers..its not the cheapest..but some stuff we get from them and it all comes down to negotiation.. LBS is nation wide company, once we know where about you are located..perharps somebody here will be able to help more with more local supplier.

[superdupa]

Hi thanks for the replies we are in County Durham and we are a new association so we don't have a great deal of capital the plan is ,is to approach local garden centres and negotiate prices then go back to the site and post price lists and take orders and collect money then try and make a little profit.The parish who are the landowners are helping us get grants from various places and they have also said that for at least this year all they require for the rent is enough to pay the water bill.

[elvis2003]

nice idea but garden centres are the most expensive place to buy supplies...why not collect a tenner off everyone in advance,redeemable in your shop?

[djbrenton]

I have a feeling Codnor Horticultural do a North East run. They do wholesale pricing as well as the ones on the website.

http://www.gro-welldirect.co.uk/default.asp

[pumpkinlover]

I started our allotment shop last year with the money we raised on our open day.
We use Codnor, it is difficult to get things in at a price that you can then add on a bit for profit. (Note that VAT is often added on so what looks good in the catalogue, turns out to be more pricey) Compost is really difficult, as so many Garden Centres do offers, but as you say it is worth asking a garden centre, our local one will sell a large amount at a discount. Lime, fertiliser and things like vermiculite and perlite are much cheaper than at a  GC.

[davyw1]

So where in The Land of the Prince Bishops are you. I amy be able to help

[rugbypost]

A lot of the allotment men I know tell me they buy a lot of the stuff they put on there shelfs from Home bargins i.e slug pellets  small tools and things they can buy cheap and make a small profit to put back into your shop dont know if this is legal some one will tell us buttake a look it may help you

[picman]

Contact a local commercial wholesaler , they should be able to set up an account for your association , we have very good supplier in Worcestershire we did about £1000+ business last year.

[Fuchsias]

I know this is a little bit 'off the subject' but our shop committee place seed orders through Kings Seeds every autumn and make a fair bit of commission, depending on the size of the orders.  The seeds themselves are excellent and far cheaper than the more well known suppliers.

Maybe someone on your site could do this to add to your 'site funds'

[daveyboi]

DT Brown also offer discounts for garden clubs and allotments...

http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/garden_club

[Robert_Brenchley]

There's a 10% discount from here:

http://www.vegetableseeds.net/

[cabbagehead]

Hi,Our allotments are Wigan, I run the allotment shop and sorce all our stock locally,Ring around and you will be surprised at what deals are out there.We also sell to the public and charge £1 a year to be a member of the Allotments, It brings a lot of custom in to the shop and helps keeps prices low.