2020 State of the Industry Report: sales, profits and prices

Editor's note: Each September, we present the findings of our exclusive State of the Industry research. We surveyed nearly 300 independent garden center owners, operators and managers in the U.S. and Canada about their IGCs, markets and trends in their areas. The following statistics were gathered via an online survey in August. Editor’s note: Not all percentages will add up to 100% due to rounding and non-responses. Not all answer options are listed here.

Find out how IGCs fared this year in our September print issue or go to our State of the Industry section of our website. Read on for more insights into the current state of the industry and the changes that came with this year.

Here, let’s take a look at sales and profits for 2020. Despite the uncertainty and lost sales when the COVID-19 first hit in early spring, garden centers have rebounded, making it look like this year will be the most profitable one in years. While about as many IGCs are projecting total profit or loss, the profits are much higher. The number of garden centers projecting a profit or higher skyrocketed this year, up 18 percentage points. Spring sales jumped up by leaps and bounds for most IGCs, which comes as no surprise.