Garden World caters to Hamilton's new arrivals

Hamilton's Palmers Garden World caters to record numbers of new home owners.

New sections require landscaping, and inputs such as trees, plants, tools and garden products.

Hamilton has become "first city of refuge" for Aucklanders priced out of their own over-heated housing market and the council is encouraging additional residential sections.

Potential investors will have pricked up their ears when Hamilton's Palmers Garden World was put on the market for sale recently.

This business is being marketed by business brokers Scott Laurence and Greg Dunn from ABC Business Sales in Hamilton - and the reason for the keen interest is obvious.

Hamilton is attracting record numbers of new home owners, a group most renowned for either developing new gardens or adapting existing ones. In fact, Hamilton is growing faster than anyone could have predicted in recent years, having become third-fastest behind Auckland and Pukekohe.

That is great news for any garden centre, let alone a leader such as Palmers Garden World, which has operated successfully from 60 Lincoln St for 20 years.

Palmers Garden World in Hamilton carries a big stock of trees, plants and a vast array of garden products.

One recent estimate concluded that Hamilton gains nearly 60 people a week with Aucklanders making up 30 per cent of attendance at open homes.

The city council knows that Hamilton has become "first city of refuge" for Aucklanders priced out of their own over-heated housing market and is encouraging additional residential sections with some urgency.

In February, it brought forward and provided extra funding for growth-related projects, originally scheduled for later in its 10-year plan.

Funding decisions are now being driven by the city's burgeoning population, coupled with the high demand for new housing. The council has allocated $10 million to fund infrastructure projects in the city's growth areas - Rotokauri, Ruakura and Peacocke - which it believes will encourage developers to bring more sections to market.

Additional sections always require resources in the form of landscaping, and inputs such as trees, plants, tools and a vast array of garden products - all of which Palmers Garden World now supplies to an existing catchment of loyal Hamilton customers.

Hamilton's Palmers Garden World complex encompasses Cafe Bottanix.

Palmers has been around for 50 years and is a franchised garden retail chain, instantly recognisable to most New Zealanders.

For many, Palmers is the go-to place for garden requirements.

An extensive range is probably half the reason why the seven-day-business is favoured in this way, among both seasonal and weekend gardeners, but they are also attracted by the knowledgeable, motivated and well-trained staff. Palmers' staff are experienced, highly proficient and of great value to the business.

The thriving garden centre is essentially ready made for a new owner or owners, anyone with the passion and skill to own and operate a good-sized retail operation.

Current owners have enjoyed their time at the helm and done well over the past eight years. But due to a change in circumstances it is time for them to move on.

They have priced the business sensibly at $150,000, plus estimated stock inventory of $475,000, so $625,000 in total. The premises are ideally sited on the western side of Hamilton.