Furniture sales fall back but flooring booms

Furniture sees sales growth slip but flooring powers on

Retail furniture sales fell back in June while flooring sales jumped

The latest ONS retail sales figures of the average weekly sales of furniture and lighting in England, Wales and Scotland dropped by 21% from May to June to £293.809m.

This was still 7.3% higher than June 2019.

In contrast the average weekly sales of flooring rose by 22% to £53.318m, compared with May.

Sales were 155.5% higher than in June 2019.

Since non-essential retail re-opened in April, furniture and lighting sales were 17% higher for the three-month period compared with 2019.

For flooring the increase was 60.2%.

The quarterly figures take into account the monthly revisions undertaken by ONS.

Shoppers are still spending

Selling Swedes scupper Sussex store scheme: superstore schedule scunnered – shoppers seek solace

Ikea has abandoned its plans to open a superstore in West Sussex, saying shopping habits have changed. The decision is likely to herald the end of new superstores as the company looks to online and city-based showrooms.

‘This has not been an easy decision to make. Today, we are operating in an incredibly fast-changing retail environment and customer shopping habits aren’t as they once were. Although we know that there is great potential in Sussex, we no longer believe that an Ikea store on the outskirts of Lancing is the optimum way to reach customers in the region,’ says Richard Rands, Ikea UK & Ireland market expansion manager.

In recent years the chain has opened a series of small city-centre showrooms that consumers cannot make purchases at. It says it will now sell the land on which the store was to be built.

Plans for the store and 600 homes were announced in 2016 and planning permission was granted in 2018, with construction starting in 2020.

Local residents were split over the decision. ‘For something important and long-lasting like furniture I would want to see what I’m buying in person, and also try it out for size and comfort if it’s a chair or bed,’ says one. ‘That’s a shame, lots of people would have benefited from jobs,’ says another, while a third spoke of the issue that had caused the most objection during the planning process: traffic on the already very busy A27: ‘Disappointed, but I don’t think the roads could have coped.’

Dreams in F&B move

Dreams has opened its first Feather & Black retail space since last year’s acquisition of the brand.

A 5,380sqft mezzanine has been created at Dreams’ Hedge End, Hampshire store. Two further stores are planned this year.

‘We know that having a physical presence is crucial for our customers – not only so that they can try out our beds and mattresses, but so that they can really sense what it might look like in their own home. It has been a labour of love to develop this store, and we’re delighted to see our customers interact with our products once more,’ says Suzannah Taggart, Feather & Black director.

Likewise raises £10m investment

Flooring distributor Likewise has raised £10m from investors as it switches to the AIM stock market. A number of directors and senior managers have invested £1m, with the group expected to be valued at about £50m when trading begins on 18 August.

The group issued just over a quarter of new shares. It says it generated sales of more than £250,000 a day during May and June and trading has been ahead of budget in 2021.

‘Likewise has developed rapidly during the last two years and the foundations are now in place to build a substantial business in the UK flooring industry, maximising our relationship with our manufacturing partners, along with flooring retailers and contractors,’ says Tony Brewer, Likewise ceo.