The chain of Cherry Lane Garden Centres has revealed plans to double the number of its outlets to 20 by 2015.
This year has already seen plenty of activity at the business, which has just acquired a new-build site at Towcester in Northamptonshire, which will bring the current estate to nine. This follows the purchase of a new-build garden centre site at Cromford in Derbyshire in February, and the acquisition of the freehold and assets of Croft Nurseries & Garden Centre in East Yorkshire in April.
Cherry Lane is a subsidiary of Norwich-based independent value retailer QD Stores Group, which operates over 40 retail outlets under the QD, Lathams, Buyright and Cherry Lane Garden Centre names. Its trading area extends from the east of England and Home Counties to Doncaster in the north and Wrexham in the west.
Additional site and land acquisitions located within a 100-mile radius of QD's Snetterton distribution centre are now proposed for Cherry Lane's expansion, according to QD Stores Group managing director Justin Farrington Smith.
"Our strategy remains focussed on developing our garden centre business organically and through acquisition and we welcome approaches from successful businesses looking to exit the market," he said.
Cherry Lane Garden Centres are also located at Long Melford and Pulham Market in Suffolk, Fritton in Norfolk, Braintree in Essex, Tickhill in South Yorkshire and Beverley in East Yorkshire. The outlets' philosophy is to offer "unbeatable value across all product lines".
The former garden centre manager of Frosts' Woburn Sands, Mike Ryan, has been appointed gardening category manager at QD Stores to oversee the Cherry Lane expansion programme. Specialist garden centre agents Quinton Edwards have also been appointed to help with site acquisitions.