25 years of GroWell…Then vs. Now
1994 was a good year.
Brit Pop was at its height… Pulp Fiction stunned cinema audiences… PlayStation changed home gaming forever… and the first GroWell shop opened!
On Friday 29th March 2019 we celebrated 25 years of GroWell!
Milestones
Some things never change, but we certainly have!
March 1994:
GroWell Solihull Opens
You’ve got to start somewhere, and for us it started with an old holiday chalet and a plot of land. We bought the chalet from Eastbourne, plonked it in Solihull then converted it to a shop. It wasn't much to look at, but it did the job. And it was ours.
March 1994:
1st UK Price List
This should really be in a museum! Most items that have gone up, have only done so by a couple of quid (impressive when you think about it). But the cost of grow lights has really come down! Back then a 400W light cost £289! With that kind of money these days you're looking at a Gavita!
March 1994:
Malvern Spring Gardening Show, Leamington Peace Festivals & BBC Gardeners' World
You might've caught us at a chilli show or two, but the first festival we went to was the Malvern Spring Gardening Show. After that it was the Leamington Peace Festival, then BBC Gardeners' World at the NEC!
March 1994:
1st GroWell Catalogue
Anyone remember this old thing? It's really bulked out over the years. You can get our latest version here: https://www.growell.co.uk/cataloguerequest
March 1997:
GROWELL SOLIHULL GETS A MAKEOVER
March 1998:
1ST WEBSITE LAUNCHED
Ahhh, the good old days, when dial-up internet was everywhere and Google didn’t even exist.
March 1999:
GROWELL SOLIHULL REVAMP
January 2005:
PRINT NEWSLETTERS STARTED
Growing can be tricky! And the game changes all the time! To keep you guys updated, we started releasing print newsletters.
April 2005:
GROWELL FULHAM OPENS
It was time to open our second shop. And South London was the obvious choice. It was a big hit, and helped fund our next shop.
January 2008:
GROWELL DUDLEY OPENS
For our third shop, we went back to our roots in the West Midlands. We nabbed a fab location. This little gem was the first GroWell shop to have a VIP room, and is now home to #GroWellTentCity.
July 2009:
GROWELL COLESHILL OPENS
This one was our biggest shop yet, with over 12,000 sq. ft. of space and plenty of parking! No wonder it's our flagship store.
April 2010:
GROWELL HOCKLEY HEATH OPENS (THE BIG MOVE!)
It was sad, but the Solihull shop we started with had finally outgrown itself. It was time to move on. We picked a nice spot in a more remote, rural location. One that was far easier to get to by car. We had our work cut out for us with this shop - we had to convert a barn! Good job we don't mind getting our hands dirty!
May 2011:
GROWELL BLOG
Customers were always asking for advice. So we decided to make it available online. Enter the GroWell blog. We were the first grow shop to launch one.
June 2011:
GROWELL WEMBLEY OPENS
There were too many Londoners for one shop to handle. It was time to open our second spot in the capital. We once grew a Jabuticaba (Brazilian grape tree you’ll struggle to find elsewhere in the UK) here under Gavita lights.
July 2011:
WE WENT SOCIAL!
We've always had some awesome interactions with customers. Social media is now the best way to hear about competitions and keep up to date with GroWell news.
May 2012:
GROWELL BIRMINGHAM OPENS
A lot of our customers are Brummies, so this shop was a no brainer. Luckily, just as we needed to expand this shop, the one next door became available. We just merged the two together. Job done.
January 2013:
GROWELL MERTON REPLACES FULHAM
It was a long time coming. Hydroponics had been big business in the UK for years, and our Fulham shop just wasn’t big enough. So we moved to GroWell Merton.
March 2013:
GROWELL BRISTOL OPENS
In the same year, we started spreading further south. This was the first shop we set up outside of London and the Midlands. It was also the first one to have a closed-loop room.
June 2013:
GROWELL SHEFFIELD OPENS
With Sheffield came our much-loved GroWell Greenhouse! There’ve been some weird and wonderful things in here. It’s a great place for testing products and filming demos.
2017:
GROWELL REBRANDED
The garish blue and green of the 90s just weren't doing it for us anymore. Grey and green was way more up our street.
January 2018:
GROWELL WEMBLEY REFIT
This was the first shop to get a makeover. The coffee and consultation bar made its debut at Wembley along with media bays and our lighting, fans & heaters, environment and ventilation stands.
September 2018:
GROWELL BIRMINGHAM REFIT
It was more than a refit - we also expanded the shop to make more space for displays.
October 2018:
GROWELL COLESHILL REFIT
November 2018:
GROWELL DUDLEY REFIT
2019:
ONGOING REFITS FOR 2019...
