Bradford Garden Centre doubles the space devoted to pets, wildlife, garden birds and aquatics

The team at a West Yorkshire Garden Centre has doubled the size of its pet care, wildlife, bird care and aquatics department.

The new pets, wildlife, and aquatics department at Tong Garden Centre occupies a 900m² area in a purpose built space next to Grass Hoppers indoor and outdoor play.

The department features an extended range from the UK’s leading aquatics retailer, Maidenhead Aquatics, new lifestyle ranges for pets and animal lovers from Joules, Sophie Allport and The Little Dog Laughed and a new pet food supplier in family owned business Burgess from North Yorkshire. There is also an increased range of feed, feeders and accessories for wild birds.

Buyer, Phil Hemmings explains the rationale for the new department: “During lockdown, many more of us have become pet owners or have become more aware of the wildlife in our gardens and we wanted our range to reflect this increased interest in pets, garden birds, wildlife and aquatics. Our old pet care department wasn’t big enough to do justice to this enhanced offer, so we relocated it to an area twice the size.

“The department now has an extensive range of everything from bird seed to feeders and pet food, dog beds, leads and toys, not to mention gorgeous gifts for pet animals and animal lovers alike. It looks amazing and gives our customers lots of choice.”

The extended department is home to the largest Maidenhead Aquatics concession and feed the fish pool in Yorkshire and includes everything for aquarists, including tropical fish from around the world, community fish and specialist aquarium fish. It is also home to the largest selection of pond plants in the area and accessories from leading aquarium brands Oase, Fluval, Tetra and Aquamanta.

Tong Garden Centre occupies a 19 acre site in Tong village. It is one of Yorkshire’s biggest independent garden centres with 125,000 square feet of retail space and parking for up to 700 cars.