Sunday, October 21, 2018
TOP STORIES
Chateau d'Ax plans restructure leaving retailers facing order confirmation wait
Chateau d'Ax, the storied Italian sofa brand with a global footprint, is planning to restructure through an insolvency process that gives it time to reorganise its liabilities in agreement with creditors.
Italian sofa company's problems come months after owners' $44m China windfall
Sold stake in major Chinese operation at the turn of the year.
Duflex Foam becomes National Bed Federation member
Mattress maker Duflex Foam has become a member of the National Bed Federation (NBF) after passing the trade association's Code of Practice audit.
Bed giant Silentnight retains Sustainability Award
Silentnight, Britain's biggest beds manufacturer, has won The Furniture Makers' Company's Sustainability Award for the second straight year.
Sales and profits light up for Element-owned furniture test house FIRA International
Furniture testing company FIRA International torched all past records on its way to its highest ever top and bottom lines in 2017, as commercial revenues escalated.
Year-on-year retail sales advanced in September, says Office for National Statistics
Retail sales climbed mid-single digits year-on-year in September according to official data from the Office for National Statistics.
New Cotswold Co. chairman Ian Topping takes same post at Homebase
Ian Topping, the former Steinhoff boss who was named chairman at The Cotswold Company earlier this summer, will simultaneously chair the home improvement chain Homebase.
UK sales jump 70% for mattress, bedding brand Dormeo
The UK arm of European mattress and bedding brand Dormeo maintained top line momentum last year with another big bump in revenue.
Wayfair explores membership as the route to repeat business
Wayfair, the expanding ecommerce home furnishings giant, has launched a customer membership programme it hopes will encourage consumers to shop with it more often.
Trade picks up for online retailer Studio after earlier lull
Second quarter update from Studio parent Findel, whose websites generate more than £100 million a year in home goods sales.
Laura Ashley email marketing claims misleading, advertising watchdog rules
The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint regarding savings claims in email marketing from furniture-to-fashion retailer Laura Ashley.
Negative home run stretches to six weeks for John Lewis
Home sales fell last week at John Lewis & Partners, meaning the broad category has seen declines in each of the past six weeks and in 19 of the past 20.
INTELLIGENCE
Market Data
Detailed market information about each of the Upholstery, Beds, Cabinet Furniture and Floorcoverings sectors at suppliers' prices.
Discover the up-to-date value of:
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UK production
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Imports
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Exports
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Key Trading Partners
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Total UK market size
BEST READ IN THE PAST MONTH
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ScS brushes off concession challenges to grow profits
Profits climbed at ScS in 2017–18 as growth in the sofa and carpets chain's core business helped negate weaker trading at its 27-store House of Fraser concession operation.
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John Lewis home sales down for fourth straight week
Home merchandise comparables continued to lag other categories for John Lewis & Partners last week, registering a 5.4 percent year-over-year sales decline.
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Fifth consecutive year of growth for sofa maker Whitemeadow
Whitemeadow, the UK's largest management-owned sofa maker, maintained profits in 2017 as rising input costs were counter balanced by a fifth straight year of top line growth.
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Ex-Pets At Home boss to replace Jason Tyldesley as CEO at Sofology
Sofology CEO Jason Tyldesley is to leave the business less than a year after the sale of the upholstery chain to DFS. His replacement is former Pets at Home CEO Sally Hopson.
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Sales up, but Highgrove profits fall on higher input, payroll costs
Profits fell at West Yorkshire bed maker Highgrove in 2017 as higher sales were counteracted by rising costs that narrowed margins. Cash generation improved, while debt was paid down.
INTELLIGENCE
Retail Sales
Up-to-date monthly UK retail sales data spanning total furniture and lighting sales PLUS detailed breakdowns for each of the Upholstery, Beds, Cabinet Furniture and Floorcoverings sectors.
Proprietary granular data covering:
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UK retail sales value and y/y delta. Monthly and annual
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Breakdown by product category
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Historical data
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Monthly and annual figures
OPINION & ANALYSIS
Italian sofa company's problems come months after owners' $44m China windfall
Sold stake in major Chinese operation at the turn of the year.
Opinion: IKEA's challenged business model
Testing, testing. While the world's biggest furniture retailer tries new things, perhaps the answer lies in acquisitions?
Commentary: Is Vispring Britain's most valuable bed company?
A balance sheet analysis of Britain's top bed companies would place Vispring relatively low in the list of Britain's most valuable mattress companies. How very misleading.
Debenhams' furniture strategy represents a calculated risk
A look into the department store chain's big-ticket plans.
RECRUITMENT
DATA & LISTS
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Debt Report: October 19, 2018
Today's list contains five insolvent companies leaving combined debts of £3,887,505. Names all 47 creditors owed £10,000 or more.
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Furniture industry insolvencies in the week to October 19, 2018
Eight insolvencies from within the furniture and furnishings industry were announced in the period October 13–19, 2018.
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Debt Report: October 12, 2018
Today's list contains seven insolvent companies leaving combined debts of £460,478. Names all 10 creditors owed £10,000 or more.
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Furniture industry insolvencies in the week to October 12, 2018
Four insolvencies from within the furniture and furnishings industry were announced in the period October 6–12, 2018.
TOP STORIES
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Chateau d'Ax plans restructure leaving retailers facing order confirmation wait
Chateau d'Ax, the storied Italian sofa brand with a global footprint, is planning to restructure through an insolvency process that gives it time to reorganise its liabilities in agreement with creditors.
-
Italian sofa company's problems come months after owners' $44m China windfall
Sold stake in major Chinese operation at the turn of the year.
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Consumer furniture prices fall at steepest rate in 24 months
Consumer furniture prices fell for the fourth month in five in the year to September and at their steepest rate since the autumn of 2016 as retailers defied rising product costs.
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Bedding supplier, licensee replaces revenue lost from bankruptcy of BHS
North West bedding giant Comfy Quilts recovered from the loss of its biggest customer to return to top line growth in the year to end January 2018.
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Pan-Euro mattress retailer to cull 176 stores by the end of the year
Matratzen Concord, one of the continent's largest mattress and bedding retailers with stores across central Europe, is closing 176 units by the end of 2018.
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Summer slump for wood cabinet imports as China, Vietnam, Poland all flop
Living, dining and bedroom cabinet imports tumbled in August as three of the big source nations—China, Poland and Vietnam—sent less to the UK.
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Sofa makers mull cash, space concerns amid DFS call to stock up
British sofa makers are weighing whether to increase raw material inventories to avoid potential production delays when the UK leaves the European Union next March.
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Littlewoods Clearance to close after owner Shop Direct rethinks stock disposal
Shop Direct says it plans to close its standalone Littlewoods Clearance business unit after concluding bulk disposal represents a better alternative for clearance stock.
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Mattress unit a drag on profits for Gallery Direct
The Gallery Direct group recorded a loss last year as top and bottom line improvement at its core brand were countered by negative results from the Dreamworks business it bought in 2015.
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Grampian's big move nears as it closes historic former location for last time
Northern Scotland furniture retailer Grampian Furnishers has closed its Lossiemouth store for the final time ahead of its relocation to a larger, purpose-built unit this coming weekend.
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OTHER NEWS
Duflex Foam becomes National Bed Federation member
Mattress maker Duflex Foam has become a member of the National Bed Federation (NBF) after passing the trade association's Code of Practice audit.
Bed giant Silentnight retains Sustainability Award
Silentnight, Britain's biggest beds manufacturer, has won The Furniture Makers' Company's Sustainability Award for the second straight year.
Sales and profits light up for Element-owned furniture test house FIRA International
Furniture testing company FIRA International torched all past records on its way to its highest ever top and bottom lines in 2017, as commercial revenues escalated.
Year-on-year retail sales advanced in September, says Office for National Statistics
Retail sales climbed mid-single digits year-on-year in September according to official data from the Office for National Statistics.
New Cotswold Co. chairman Ian Topping takes same post at Homebase
Ian Topping, the former Steinhoff boss who was named chairman at The Cotswold Company earlier this summer, will simultaneously chair the home improvement chain Homebase.
UK sales jump 70% for mattress, bedding brand Dormeo
The UK arm of European mattress and bedding brand Dormeo maintained top line momentum last year with another big bump in revenue.
Wayfair explores membership as the route to repeat business
Wayfair, the expanding ecommerce home furnishings giant, has launched a customer membership programme it hopes will encourage consumers to shop with it more often.
Trade picks up for online retailer Studio after earlier lull
Second quarter update from Studio parent Findel, whose websites generate more than £100 million a year in home goods sales.
Laura Ashley email marketing claims misleading, advertising watchdog rules
The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint regarding savings claims in email marketing from furniture-to-fashion retailer Laura Ashley.
Negative home run stretches to six weeks for John Lewis
Home sales fell last week at John Lewis & Partners, meaning the broad category has seen declines in each of the past six weeks and in 19 of the past 20.