A visionary wind of change

Hibernation is a life lived in slumber. Aveve knows what that means; the giant is now awakening from a long hibernation that may well have endured for decades. It is being catapulted into a second existence with a new concept for the garden centre of the future that has been unveiled in Mechelen.
Aveve Retail, the consumer division of the Belgian agro-holding Arvesta, is tackling this challenge. The arrival of Erik Haegeman - ex-boss of Bricorama France and Brico Belgium - at the controls of this agricultural colossus (1.4 bn euros in sales) as retail director has given rise to a visionary wind of change blowing from the head office in Louvain. Following a phase of stocktaking and strategic reflection, the outlines of a phase of growth and ambitious development are now emerging.
Aveve didn't have any alternative: put up with the changes, or anticipate them. The undisputed Belgian market leader in the garden centre segment with 250 stores (200 of them operated as franchise outlets) has reinvented itself, both in terms of retail marketing - repositioning, with a new claim that "This is where the joy grows" ("le plaisir ça se cultive" in the original French) - and conceptually with a new store layout. To this end the management sought advice from experts in the form of Mojo Retail, and in particular drew on the know-how of managing partner Pascal Libyn. "The pilot store in Mechelen is primarily the result of teamwork together with the new generation of marketing people at Aveve," states Pascal Libyn.
The repositioning of the Aveve garden centres was neither easy to plan nor to implement at the long-established store of its member Philips in Louvain, in particular owing to the significance of its strong market image linked to the catchment area. The process took two years to accomplish.

"At all events, it is precisely this spontaneous association with nature and animals - the previous slogan acted as a lever and communication medium - that helped to catapult Aveve Retail into a new orbit," says the design expert. The store layout and above all the customer routing, with access to the store via the outdoor garden area, are conceived so that the customer immediately picks up on a friendly ambience in the building. Warm colours are combined with broken white, beige, emerald green and grey, instantly creating a comfortable feeling like being within one's own four walls. Natural wood adds to this relaxed atmosphere and invites customers to seek…