Let's get an unadulterated view from the industry, did you feel numbers were up or down, and did you see the right quality of customer? What else needs to be done to keep the show a success?
23 Sep 2016, Ken
GLEE is still not the show it could be. Garden centres are not well served by shows which only offer 20-25% of their turnover by a show dedicated to them. Pets, furniture, plants, catering are not properly represented. As 4 Oaks is sold, there is opportunity. GLEE ruined itself as a 5 hall show by greed. Now as a smaller show it has found its niche. But why not run it alongside the Autumn Fair. All garden centres sell gifts. It is an ideal fit. Spoga Gafa showcase furniture only a week before. So there is no reason GLEE can't do the same. Few garden centres can send staff to 5 shows in 2-3 months from HTA plant show to GLEE. There was nothing wrong with the original GLEE except that the stands were too expensive for suppliers. And that will remain my view. Interesting to see innovation from Smart and not much from Gardman. You could tell by the number of people on each stand what the visitors thought.
16 Sep 2016, NPT
I thought the content of the exhibitors was excellent - the best it has been for a long time. Some good ideas down in the Innovators zone. Glee made a good decision in letting the new product zone go to an exhibitor however the new section looked a little messy. I am not sure if our trade is now down to a tight number of buyers and that is it or people are just not attending. I spoke to one large centre who gave 3 days to systemically walk the isles - i wish more would do that even if they only gave each stand 2 mins. Well done i2i it's a great show again - we might together need to work with the retailers a little more!
