Industry News & Analysis
The latest industry news and analysis—across all categories—listed in chronological order, with the most recent articles first.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
The Range trades from 175 stores.
Home, garden and leisure retailer The Range opened a dozen new stores on the way to returning to profit growth in 2018–19, with annual sales closing in on £1 billion.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
The two-seater Holly sofa.
Upholstery vertical Sofa.com is to enter the contract sector for the first time with a collection of products that also includes a tie-up with bed company Hypnos.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS |
Antitrust regulators are examining the completed takeover of a £47 million carpet yarn spinner earlier this year to see if it contravenes U.K. competition rules.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
The company behind the Stoke-on-Trent based furniture and home accents retailer Woodpecker Interiors has liquidated leaving a six-figure sum owed to creditors.
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- INTERNATIONAL |
Ingka Group, owner of the bulk of IKEA's global store estate, has agreed to pay €136 million for an 80 percent stake in seven Romanian wind farms.
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- OPINION & ANALYSIS |
Evaluating store numbers is ever more challenging.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY |
Now and in the future: How the office block might look and (inset) FIRA's familiar entrance.
The FIRA building in Stevenage — one of the furniture industry's most recognisable landmarks — will be demolished if redevelopment plans put forward by the property owner go ahead.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Department store chain John Lewis & Partners said it is launching 3,000 new own-brand products this autumn as part of an overhaul of its home merchandise programme.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE |
The London based company behind the Artisan Furniture brand has acquired selected assets of PD Global, the furniture importer and distributor which ceased trading earlier this summer.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Home shopping group N Brown says it has made an additional provision of up to £30 million after it received a torrent of late-in-the-day and unforeseen PPI claims, many from the Official Receiver.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES |
The National Bed Federation (NBF) has suspended the membership of Dura Beds after the West Yorkshire manufacturer failed its Code of Practice audit. The company is appealing the decision.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Dwell is closing in on 40 stores across the U.K.
Dwell, the modern furniture and home accents retailer, is expanding its store footprint with a first unit outside the U.K. mainland next month.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
Upholstery giant offloads shareholding in Nick Scali — one of the largest furniture chains in the Southern Hemisphere — for the equivalent of about £41 million.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Furnishings-to-fashion retailer Laura Ashley has hired a licensing partner to build a bigger brand presence for its furniture and furnishings business in China and other nearby markets.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
All six new Homesense stores are co-located with sister fashion chain TK Maxx.
Homesense will open two new stores today amid six new openings over the next three weeks as the U.S. owned off-price furniture and home furnishings chain takes U.K. store numbers to nearly 80.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
At The Helm's Havana three-seater sofa.
Hydeline Furniture, the upholstery supplier behind the At The Helm brand launched earlier this year, has revealed new photography in a move that signals the direction of travel for the range's aesthetics.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
Sales fell despite an improving trend in the first half.
Half year sales declined in the U.K. and Ireland for the company behind major European upholstery brand Stressless, though the second quarter improved on the first.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES |
Containers of China-made mattresses led the way as bed imports into the U.K. returned to growth in July, according to new Government figures.
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- INTERNATIONAL |
Furniture and home accents retailer Maisons du Monde has opened a first-ever business-to-business (B2B) showroom as it looks to build a larger customer base in the office and hospitality sectors.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
John Lewis & Partners — already on its worst run of home comparatives since the turn of the year — recorded a seventh straight drop in sales across the category taking in furniture last week.
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- CASE GOODS |
Wood cabinet imports were up 10 percent. Image: Maersk
Imports of wood living, dining and bedroom cabinet advanced double-digit in July after rises from each of the three largest Far East case goods exporters.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Upmarket British brand OKA has launched stateside.
Premium British furniture and interiors retailer OKA has launched into the U.S. market for the first time with a dedicated ecommerce store. Stores will follow.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
The second half began with a decline in sofa imports, driven by fewer containers arriving from China.
Upholstery imports into the U.K. declined year-on-year in July, bringing three straight months of high double-digit value growth to an end.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS |
Imports of carpets into the U.K. rose in July on the back of advancing trade between British buyers and markets such as China, Turkey and India.
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- DATA & RESEARCH |
Out-of-town retail parks welcomed more shoppers in August compared to the same month last year amid weakening figures across other types of retail destination.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
John Lewis Partnership, parent to department store chain John Lewis and supermarket retailer Waitrose, has appointed Dame Clare Tickell and Michael Herlihy as its first independent directors.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES |
Left–right: Managing director Simon Spinks and chairman Peter Spinks of Harrison Spinks with Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson.
Leeds bed maker Harrison Spinks hosted the Queen’s representative in West Yorkshire to its headquarters to receive the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES |
The Sleep Council — which raises awareness of the importance of sleep on behalf of the U.K. bed industry — has joined forces with Penguin Random House to develop a range of 10 ‘Sleep Tales’ that have been designed to help people relax before they go to bed.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE |
Scartop Pine's Heywood store. Image: Google
Furniture wholesaler PD Global and its co-owned retail fascia Scartop Pine recorded a seven-figure loss almost two years before its eventual closure, administrators have said in a new report.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
Upholstery manufacturer and retailer Sofa.com could veer from its monobrand history for the first time according to weekend press reports.
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- CASE GOODS |
High end furniture maker and retailer Linley recorded a bigger a loss in 2017–18 because of project delays and a strategy pivot but said the future remains bright for the company.
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- INTERNATIONAL |
The JYSK format continues to grow.
JYSK, the inexpensive Danish furniture and homewares retailer, will host an event for property owners in Dublin next week as it looks to accumulate a pipeline of prospective stores.
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- ECOMMERCE |
Westwing, the pan-European home and lifestyle retailer that specialises in short-term flash sales, said shifting its warehouse to Poland hit profitability in the first half of 2019.
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- ECOMMERCE |
Home24 is one of the biggest online vendors of furniture in Europe.
Fast-growing ecommerce furniture and homewares retailer Home24 continued to gain top line traction in the first half of 2019 and said its year-end target of breaking even by one profit measure remains on track.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES |
The National Bed Federation has named the finalists for its 2019 Bed Industry Awards across the retail and manufacturing categories with the winners to be named later this month.
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- FURNISHINGS & ACCENTS |
Window dressings manufacturer Ena Shaw has introduced its first-ever collection of Montgomery branded ready made velvet curtains, designed and manufactured solely in the U.K.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
Residential and commercial furniture manufacturer Style Matters is upsizing after agreeing to move to larger premises at a North West industrial park.
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- IN BRIEF |
The ceremony for the Young Furniture Makers' Awards will this year be sponsored by the January Furniture Show for the first time.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS |
Tapi has well over 100 stores across the U.K.
Tapi Carpets and Floors, the circa 130-store retail chain built by a former executive of market leader Carpetright and backed by high-profile retail titans, has raised more funding from shareholders.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS |
Associated Weavers, the Belgian carpet manufacturing giant, said it allocated significant funds to its entry into the luxury vinyl tile (LVT) sector in the U.K. market this year.
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- OPINION & ANALYSIS |
It is not just the new and emerging companies that established furniture retailers need to be following closely.
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- IN BRIEF |
Whitemeadow managing director Ian Oscroft is pictured with head of group human resources Karen Clarridge.
Nottinghamshire furniture manufacturer Whitemeadow has achieved Investors In People status, having met the requirement criteria and successfully passed an assessment for the people management standard.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Dunelm will use its stores as a showcase for some only-only products available for home delivery.
Home retailer Dunelm says it plans to add another 6,000 new lines to its online-only product roster as it looks to continue capturing market share beyond categories for which it was historically known.
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- IN BRIEF |
National homeware retailer Dunelm Group has appointed Paula Vennells to its board as a non-executive director.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES |
New product lines proved a winner for Tempur.
Memory foam pioneer Tempur outgunned the wider mattress market in the U.K. in 2018 after new products launched in the previous year gained traction with customers.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Out-of-town home retailer Dunelm Group booked bigger profits after the retailer added another £50 million in sales through 2018–19.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Bank holiday sunshine kept home shoppers away as John Lewis & Partners racked up a sixth straight decline in the broad-brush category, its worst series since the turn of the year.
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- EVENTS |
The 42nd edition of premium interior design show Decorex International takes place in just over a month's time in London with 50 new exhibitors among the lineup.
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- REGIONAL |
Furniture and carpets retailer Coytes, which operates three stores in Burton-on-Trent, has consolidated at two of the sites in the town after closing a longstanding unit.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
Lebus is one of the U.K.'s biggest sofa manufacturers.
A fall in overheads boosted profits at Lincolnshire sofa maker Lebus Upholstery after sales were hit by the long spell of sunny weather that brought six straight years of growth to an end.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES |
Two major European foam companies are in dispute after one accused the other of overstepping the mark in the region where the pair have operated a joint venture since the 1990s.
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- INTERNATIONAL |
Giorgetti, the upmarket Italian designer furniture manufacturer, is opening a first U.K. showroom after signing a lease for a unit in West London.
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- DATA & RESEARCH |
Retail sales flatlined in the U.K. last month according to the British Retail Consortium, which represents many of the country's largest retailers.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY |
Manufacturing tech group Biesse is to host an Open Day this autumn pushing the benefits of the Manufacturing Guild Mark, the mark of excellence awarded by The Furniture Makers' Company.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Sales and underlying profits advanced between April 1–June 30, 2019 for Sharps.
Revenue and underlying profits inched forward for Sharps in the three months to end June with the national bedroom and home office furniture chain saying its order book is in a healthy state.
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- DATA & RESEARCH |
Big-ticket sentiment among prospective buyers fell back in August as consumer confidence took a dive over fears regarding the U.K. economy.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
Loaf's new Cribbs Causeway store.
Furniture and home accents retailer Loaf has opened its eighth showroom, at Bristol, as it continues to build out its bricks and mortar presence.
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- UPHOLSTERY |
Heritage Upholstery Supplies has rebranded as Heritage Components in a move that reflects its evolution into a worldwide furniture components supplier.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE |
Office furniture manufacturer Frem Group has added a new factory in Suffolk after a bumper year in 2018 that saw revenue grow double digit and profits transformed.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION |
The rate of decline halved for Steinhoff's U.K. houshold goods unit in the three months to June 30, 2019.
The pace of sales decline slowed for Steinhoff International Holding's U.K. household goods unit in the three months to end June 2019 with Bensons for Beds outperforming its sister chain Harveys so far this year.
