Dobbies Garden Centre Altrincham closing on 17th December

We are sad to report that Dobbies has announced that it plans to close the Garden Centre in Timperley on the 17th December. The cafe, however, will close down much earlier on 1st December. The garden centre, which is very close to Hale and Hale Barns, provides a valuable service to the local community - not just for gardening, but also in terms of the cafe bringing the locals together, and providing a soft play area for children.

Residents are not only concerned about the loss of the facility, but also that the land might be sold and turned into a residential development - an especially unwanted proposition with the loss of nearby Timperley Wedge with a planned 2500 homes.

Here at Halebarns.com we remember going to the garden centre all the way back to the 1980's, when it was called Yates' Garden Centre - named after its owner who was called Mr. Yates. We remember some schoolchildren back then who managed to persuade Mr. Yates to buy bird boxes they made at home, in an effort to earn some pocket money! Years later, Mr. Yates sold it, then it was taken over by Wyevale, then Dobbies.

When Dobbies first took it over, the community was pleased, as other Dobbies we had encountered in different parts of the country were well-run garden centres.

Dobbies used to be owned by Tesco, which treated it as a going concern. However, Tesco sold the division to private equity who didn't seem so effective at making a go of the business. The range of plants and products were changed, not always for the better, and the place appeared to be understaffed. There just wasn't the investment in the business and the staff that were there didn't seem listened to.

We can't be exactly sure, but we think Mr. Yates owned the land that the garden centre was built on. Now, however, we understand that the land is leased. This means that some time between the 80's and now, the land could have been sold and leased back - this is the kind of asset stripping deal, popular among business leaders in the 90's, and more recently among private equity, that ruined a number of high profile companies in the last 20 years. This is because the cost of renting the premises keeps going up, however the profits are not enough to cover this (if you look around Altrincham and Hale - the few stores that stood the test of time are usually the ones that own their premises).

Here at Halebarns.com we hope there is some future for the garden centre, and that it isn't turned into more houses with no schools, no GP surgeries and no parks or green spaces. Much of the staff working there are very friendly and passionate about their jobs, and the loyal customers definitely want it to stay too.