A beloved garden centre chain is following in the footsteps of Homebase by announcing a wave of store closures.

Dobbies Garden Centres, the largest garden centre operator in the UK with some 77 stores and nearly 1,000 staff, is shuttering 17 sites.

The move, according to the 159-year-old business, is to return to ‘sustainable profitability’.

Unseasonable weather, stubborn inflation and the cost of living crisis dealt a double whammy to Dobbies last year, racking up £130 million in losses.

Of the 17 stores closing leading trading by the end of the year, they include all six Little Dobbies branches which specialise in houseplants.

All in all, this will bring the number of Dobbies up and down Britain to 60.

There’s a sliver of a chance that the branches could be saved as Dobbies bosses work with advisers at FTI Consulting for a reconstructing plan.

Though given that none of the 11 mainline sites and six Little Dobies stores are profitable, maybe don’t hold out on that.

This will impact 465 staff.

All shops marked for closure will operate as normal.

Rent was a key gripe for Dobbies, with the plan hoping to ‘address historically uneconomical rent costs and ensure a return to sustainable profitability’.

The proposals, which are subject to approval by creditors, will also see the garden and DIY chain seek rent reductions at nine other sites to prevent further closures.

Other ‘tangible savings’ are also on the cards to help ‘its long-term future…allowing access to future investment’.

If not green-lit, it’s believed the business might go into insolvency.

Dobbies decline comes only weeks after Homebase announced 10 stores will close their doors one final time. The sites have been sold to Sainsbury’s.

Six stores across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will close before Christmas, with four believed to shut down shortly afterwards.

Dobbies and Homebase’s woes aren’t just exclusive to the two. British Garden Centres development and project manager Amy Stubbs told Retail Gazette the entire gardening sector has taken a hit.

She told the trading publication that the flip-flopping weather has especially caused havoc.

‘It almost feels like any time it’s had a chance to start, the weather has then ruined it and it’s gone backwards again. It’s just been very stop-start,’ she said.

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