MILLICENT’S green thumbs have been out in force of late with sky-rocketing demand for winter vegetable seedlings at McCourt’s Garden Centre.
Business proprietor Christine Agnew attributes the increased activity in home garden plots to COVID19 restrictions.
Ms Agnew said since people had spent more time at home, they were looking to be self-sufficient and gardening gave children something to do during the school holidays.
“We have sold three times our usual number of mushroom farms,” Ms Agnew said.
It has been a challenging two months for the Davenport Street business but it has recently resumed regular seven-day trade.
Despite the doors mostly being shut for several weeks, McCourt’s Garden Centre was able to maintain a steady turnover due to phone orders.
There was also a strong demand for giftware and hampers in the lead up to Mother’s Day on May 10, while the in-house florist prepared 165 floral arrangements.
“We had to put on extra staff and had to work back until 7pm,” she said.
Ms Agnew said she was starting to see more shoppers from Mount Gambier at the business.
The impact of the COVID19 virus has disrupted Ms Agnew’s plans to reopen the on-site café but it has allowed some renovations to the premises to be done.
As is commonplace across Millicent businesses, the COVID-19 protocols such as the use of hand sanitiser and social distancing apply at McCourt’s Garden Centre.
