A garden centre in Countesswells is hoping its plans to add a cafe will help the business bloom after facing a few “challenging” years.
Bosses at the Ben Reid Garden Centre have lodged reworked plans for the extension with Aberdeen City Council.
The traditional family-run nursery has been in Aberdeen for more than 250 years, growing plants of various sizes and forms on site.
But now, the venue is looking to grow by adding a cafe.
It is hoped the new feature will help the local firm compete with rivals such as Dobbies and the Raemoir Garden Centre in Banchory.
Cafe will help garden centre recover from pandemic struggle
Managing director Simon Fraser has been in charge for the last 20 years and has been overseeing expansion of the business.
He had hoped to move forward with plans to build a restaurant on the site back in spring 2020.
But, unfortunately the project was folded due to the pandemic and the garden centre has been fighting back since.
Simon explained: “We are still recovering from the Covid period, as many small businesses are.
“This is the first step to re-energise the project but it’s an incredibly tough environment to try and grow businesses at the moment.”
Customers ‘desperate’ for a cafe at Ben Reid Garden Centre
If the feedback from members of the public is anything to go by, the latest proposal will be a huge hit.
Simon revealed that customers are “desperate” for a coffee shop there.
“We get phone calls all the time and people turning up asking about it because it goes hand-in-hand with selling plants now,” he said.
“People expect that from a garden centre.”
But it will hopefully turn out to be a success for the business too and help to ease the “seasonal cash flow”.
The businessman added: “We’ve had a really challenging couple of years because the weather has been so dreadful.
“Developing a cafe helps us with footfall when the weather isn’t so good.”
And, he admitted: “Running a business where you are only making money for four or five months is getting incredibly challenging.”
Cafe first step of wider plan for family-owned business
The family behind the business is “very excited” to see the cafe plans progress, and Simon believes it’s “definitely the right move for Ben Reid“.
He added: “We are hoping this development can help us be a focal point in the community.”
The cafe would be the first step towards expanding the site even further, making it a “great asset” to the area.
Simon revealed a food hall could come next, where smaller businesses would be encouraged to join the site.
“We think we can do something different because we are a local family business, we seem to be surrounded by chains wherever we go at the moment,” he stated.
“We can offer something that is a little bit more Aberdeen.”
You can view the plans here.
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