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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The National Bed Federation (NBF) has launched Associate Supplier Membership, a new category aimed at suppliers of component parts and services to bed manufacturers and retailers.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Fitted furniture vertical Hammonds preserved cash and remained profitable at the EBITDA line as a strong order book helped mitigate the impact of the first U.K. lockdown last year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
U.K. furniture retail sales declined double-digit year-on-year in February with the drop limited by rising ecommerce activity and the ability to continue unwinding existing orders taken across all channels.
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- EVENTS
The BFM Fabric Show, which had been due to take place at Twickenham in June, has been postponed and will now take place in February/March of next year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture, furnishings and floorcoverings retailers in England will able to keep stores open until 10pm from April 12 if they wish after the Government extended daily opening hours measures.
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- ECOMMERCE
The company behind Ufurnish.com has appointed Pat McCann, the longtime CEO at Dalata Hotel Group, as its chairman.
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OnlyHome, a U.K. based ecommerce marketplace selling a wide variety of furniture and home décor from well known suppliers, is under new ownership.
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- CASE GOODS
The ready-to-assemble cabinet furniture arm of diversified West Yorkshire manufacturing group Decorative Panels found growth in the lead up to the pandemic.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Ashley Ann, the fitted furniture vertical that operates its own showrooms in Scotland and sells to third party dealers in England and Wales, says profits will be smaller but still positive this year.
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- CASE GOODS
German bedroom furniture maker Rauch has aligned its product development and marketing functions and hired a new leader to run the merged unit.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
North East bed manufacturer Palatine Beds enjoyed positive trading in 2019–20 after it completed the delivery of a large-scale contract.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Former DFS head of buying takes newly-created role at the upholstery and flooring chain, which has also hired a new people director from the travel sector.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
German kitchen manufacturing giant Nolte Küchen has acquired selected assets of a U.K. retail chain following a prepack administration deal.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Beales, the historic department store brand, will return to another of its old haunts as its adds to the store it opened in Poole when it relaunched last summer.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Early 2021 demand in key markets has given high-end furniture company Roche Bobois confidence that currently-closed markets like the U.K. can bounce back strongly when stores reopen.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
John Lewis & Partners has confirmed the location of eight further stores that will remain permanently closed once restrictions are eased. They include four of its At Home units.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Direct-to-consumer brand Emma - The Mattress Company has added more bed industry knowhow to its UK. and Ireland sales force as it looks to build a larger wholesale presence on the shop floors of key retailers.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The md of Fabb Furniture, the home furnishings retailer formerly known as AHF, says it is on track to be EBITDA positive when it closes the book on its current financial year next week.
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- DATA & RESEARCH
Consumer price inflation for furniture narrowed in February but the pressure on manufacturers continued to rise, according to official data out today.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Britain's home office furniture market shrank in 2020 despite the move to home-working according to a new report by AMA Research. It says that will reverse this year as consumers make more permanent home office arrangements.
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A profitable online furniture retailer that claims to be among the largest of its type across Central and Eastern Europe has tapped bond investors for more funds as it targets further expansion.
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- UPHOLSTERY
A busy final quarter helped Stressless owner Ekornes achieve full year sales growth in the U.K. and Ireland last year, reversing earlier declines from the upholstery brand.
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- UPHOLSTERY
A new agreement with U.S. wholesale conglomerate Costco can pave the way for similar partnerships in other world markets, according to recliner maker IMG.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Gomersal mattress, bed and upholstered headboard maker MA Living has has acquired additional business space in nearby Leeds ahead of anticipated growth.
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- FURNISHINGS & ACCENTS
Higher demand from online retailers and DIY sheds helped diversified lighting and electricals supplier Luceco mitigate the impact of the pandemic last year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
B&Q owner Kingfisher says it will "rightsize" a number of its largest stores but expects total store numbers to climb as it looks to smaller compact formats to target urban areas.
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The ecommerce group that acquired the IP of designer furniture and homeware retailer Houseology out of administration just over a year ago has seen its valuation fly following its latest equity issue.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Sweet Dreams says actions to mitigate the impact of reduced consumer confidence as a result of Brexit and the loss of sales to Bensons for Beds have yielded a positive impact. It has also helped it deal with the pandemic, it said.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Video sales interactivity between stores and consumers has snowballed during the past year and will be one of one of the innovations to outlive the pandemic, according to the head of the U.K.'s largest upholstery retailer.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Mattress and sleep brand Mammoth and the British Athletes Commission (BAC) have extended their long-running partnership for an additional year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Modern furniture retailer and supplier Aram Designs has paid tribute to its founder and chairman Zeev Aram OBE, who died at home March 18, aged 89.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Plans to unlock the doors to non-essential retail have left consumers at their most ready to splash out on high-value goods such as furniture for a year, according to a closely-followed survey.
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The conglomerate behind the West Elm retail fascia wants to double its international revenue by 2026 but has indicated it would not immediately look to add to its three dedicated U.K. showrooms.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
Global furniture production fell sharply last year but the biggest market participants were hit less hard than their smaller contemporaries, according to a new report.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Higher sales helped profits rise sharply for the group behind gift and homeware wholesaler Lesser & Pavey in the run-up to the pandemic.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Burnley bed manufacturer Sweet Dreams has appointed Bradley Ravenscroft as its agent for the West Midlands.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Direct-to-consumer mattress and sleep company Eve Sleep cut losses and was cashflow neutral for the first time in its history as market tailwinds accelerated its turnaround last year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
DFS and ScS together with department store chain John Lewis all released financial statements in the past week and offered a reminder that accounts are not just a statutory document, but an exercise in public relations.
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- REGIONAL
A flood of unforeseen claims will yield no change in outcome for the creditors of a now-long insolvent London furniture franchise as the company doesn't have enough assets to pay even the liquidator or professional advisors.
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- CASE GOODS
Structural cost savings and state support helped fitted furniture vertical John Lewis of Hungerford make inroads into losses in the six months to December 31, 2020.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The National Bed Federation (NBF) is to talk to parents and professionals working with children and young people in the Lincolnshire area as part of an online conference organised by The Sleep Charity.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Dreams, the U.K.'s largest beds retailer, has added the Sleep and Snooze brand to an expanding roster that already includes its core offer and the premium-pitched Feather & Black business.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Clockwork Components, a key supplier of components and accessories to U.K. upholstery and bedding manufacturers, has acquired Motionmex, a longtime distributor of Leggett & Platt recliner mechanisms.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Imports and exports of furniture and flooring fared worse than other goods and commodities in the first month since the end of the Brexit transition, initial Government data shows.
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- REGIONAL
Privately-owned furniture, furnishings and giftware retailer Baytree Interiors will open an eleventh store when restrictions are eased, strengthening its presence in Yorkshire.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture, flooring and homeware retailers in Scotland will be able to open a week ahead of their counterparts in England and Wales after the Scottish Government released its timetable for unlocking the economy.
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- UPHOLSTERY
ScS enjoyed a record first half as it delivered orders taken last year but the sofa and carpets retailer has seen a sharp fall in written business through lockdown despite customers pivoting online.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Living, dining and bedroom cabinet imports reached record levels in January with retailers and wholesalers bringing in never-before seen levels from both China and Vietnam.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The renascent Laura Ashley brand returned online yesterday and will have its own flagship space inside one of partner retailer Next's landmark stores when non-essential stores are allowed to reopen.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Rises from both inside the E.U. and out powered an increase in foam and sprung mattress imports in January, according to new figures.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
National bed specialist Bensons for Beds has donated £34,810 to Mind, the mental health charity, as a result of sales of the Rollo by Slumberland rollup mattress over the winter period.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The CEOs of both DFS and Furniture Village say the structural shift-to-digital will lead to larger, destination-style furniture stores rather than retailers operating from small-sized formats.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Upholstery shipments fell back in January on weaker figures from both China and Poland, the two largest sources of foreign-made sofas sold in the U.K.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
The chief commercial officer at U.K. Flooring Direct has become chief digital officer in a move that reflects the major flooring retailer's upscaled plans for digital technology investment.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
The slog for Belgium's carpet makers continued at the start of 2021 with Britain's biggest trading partner for the category sustaining another sharp fall in the value of product arriving here.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The National Lighting Company, one of Europe's largest suppliers of lighting to the retail market, found improvement last year despite the non-linear nature of trading through the pandemic.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Retail chain John Lewis is bullish for strong home furnishings demand once lockdown eases as it looks to recover sales lost across the wide-ranging category through 2020–21.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The value of furniture output from U.K. furniture factories fell for the eleventh straight month on an annual basis in January according to official data out this morning.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Laura Ashley home ranges to be sold through the Next brand network will feature soft furnishings sourced through Ashley Wilde, the Hertfordshire headquartered fabrics group.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Tempur Sealy International, the world's largest bedding producer, plans to extend the maturity profile of its long term debt with a new $800 million (£572m) senior notes offering.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Much of the consumer shift online is permanent according to John Lewis, which says a pre-pandemic 60/40 sales split in favour of stores has been completely reversed and is expected to remain so in the future.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Tenants will be given three more months to generate cash and pay unpaid rent or renegotiate terms before landlords can legally try to oust them after the Government yesterday extended the ban on commercial evictions.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The Chancellor's decision to extend business rates relief will have been welcomed by retailers the length and breadth of the country. But in England, only independents are likely to benefit in a meaningful fashion.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Adjusted profits fell high single digits on a near €110 million sales drop for flooring giant Balta last year, with it slipping to a net loss overall after finance costs and non-cash write-downs.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
International interior furnishings supplier Sanderson Design Group has relaunched websites for all its individual brands along with refreshing its corporate presence online.
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Higher online sales in the U.K. and other markets worldwide helped Maisons du Monde partly mitigate the impact of store closures across the globe last year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture retailer Loaf, the poster child for an adroitly-executed clicks-to-bricks strategy, has reorganised its corporate structure in readiness for the next chapter in its development.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Furniture maker Sherborne Upholstery remained profitable and generated cash last year despite sales falling sharply on the back of Covid-induced factory and customer shutdowns.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Headlam, Europe's largest flooring wholesaler, says it will add almost 40 new trade counters over the next four years in response to rising demand from retailers and fitters for click-and-collect.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
A new nylon yarn aimed at residential carpet makers contains 75 percent recycled material and is itself "endlessly recyclable" according to its Belgian proponent.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Retail sales inched ahead year-on-year in February despite the mandatory closure of non-essential stores, according to a closely-followed trade survey.
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- UPHOLSTERY
DFS, already the largest upholstery producer in the country, is mulling further investment in U.K. sofa manufacturing as the pandemic and Brexit have highlighted global supply chain complexities.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
Peter Harrison and Tim Stacey, the CEOs of Furniture Village and DFS respectively, are the two panellists in the final webinar in the Innovation in Times of Crisis series from The Furniture Makers' Company.
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- CASE GOODS
Shareholders at Lancashire fitted furniture manufacturer J&J Ormerod (JJO) have decided to sell two thirds of the business to the company's employees, ending a long period of family ownership.
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- EVENTS
The South West Furniture and Bed Show has announced late May dates for its spring exhibition following the planned easing of restrictions surrounding indoor events.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Carpetright is testing two separate mattress and beds formats across 20 of its stores nationwide and online. It includes a revamped Sleepright proposition and a new retail brand concept called MattressStoreU.K.
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- UPHOLSTERY
The giants of British upholstery retail are pushing deeper into the growing sofa-in-a-box market segment to compete with emerging challenger brands and entry-level incumbents such as IKEA.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture and flooring retailers in Wales will not pay business rates until 2022–23 at the earliest after the Welsh Government followed their counterparts in Scotland by extending relief for most retailers.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture and lighting sales fell sharply in Ireland in January with the country's retailers only able to take new orders online with stores closed.
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- FURNISHINGS & ACCENTS
A West Yorkshire rug supplier has invested in new machinery that will boost capacity and take it into new markets with the aim of growing sales by a third.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Kent bed maker Sleepeezee has donated £18,000 to The Children's Hospital Charity in Sheffield, part of its commitment to share a cut of all sales from its Jessica mattress.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Planning documents reveal how RH, the U.S. furniture giant formerly known as Restoration Hardware, plans to reconfigure the London store that currently houses fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch into its first London gallery.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
The West Yorkshire wool supplier that owned heritage carpet maker Axminster until early last year has completed a restructuring process it initiated nearly two years ago to improve its finances.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The £2 million cap on business rates relief announced in the Budget on Wednesday is a "near worthless support package for large retailers," according to the store group behind Sofa.com and House of Fraser.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The diversified makeup of the privately-owned group behind Holt furniture, home and department store retailer Bakers & Larners meant it was able to carry on trading through the pandemic.
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- EVENTS
The 15th Scottish Interiors Showcase will rebrand for its first-ever digital event, which has been designed to be the first of many that will run alongside future in-person editions of the exhibition.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Ecommerce retailer MattressOnline recorded double-digit revenue growth and higher profits last year and said its inventory strategy helped it navigate the supply chain challenges thrown at it by the pandemic.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Italian mattress and sleep brand Dormeo continued to build momentum at its U.K. business last year saying the Covid situation has worked in its favour.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The franchisee behind BoConcept stores in London and large parts of southern England says Covid has made everyone realise "the primordial importance of a good home environment."
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
H.I.G., the U.S. headquartered investment group that bought Britain's biggest bed maker Silentnight a decade ago, has agreed a £25 million settlement with The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The Chancellor has extended business rates relief for home furnishings retailers across England but stopped short of completely waiving the tax through the 2021–22 year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Sterling Furniture Group, one of the U.K.'s largest privately-owned retailers, said it is confident demand for home furnishings will continue to be strong once stores reopen.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Danish furniture design brand BoConcept and U.S. furnishings conglomerate Haworth have announced a strategic partnership they say will open up access to global markets for both entities.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The Furniture Industry Research Association has published a guide to alternative materials and the pressures from specific consumer groups which might accelerate their adoption across the furniture trade.
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- UPHOLSTERY
The just-launched Cloud Sundae is the third upholstery programme from sofa-in-a-box brand Snug and stretches the company's price architecture into a more premium segment underpinned by new patent-pending technology.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Revenue was flat for the second straight year at Manchester based converter of curtain and upholstery fabrics Fryett's, according to new figures for the period leading up to the pandemic.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Lockdowns meant revenue fell in high single-digits for the group behind the Alstons, Ashley Manor and Alexander & James brands last year but high demand outside those periods prompted it to expand its production capability.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Recticel, the Belgian foam conglomerate, has begun plans to offload its dedicated finished bedding manufacturing business following a strategic review.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Demand for furniture and other key homemaker product categories delivered high double-digit growth for retailer Harvey Norman across all of the island of Ireland in the six months to end December.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Brockway Carpets slipped to a loss last year as a result one-off restructuring costs and the end of its financial year being hit by lockdown and customers such as John Lewis halting carpet operations.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The majority of Waitrose's 331-store supermarket network will become home to a mini-John Lewis store under plans being drawn up by the retail group, The Times reported this weekend.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Steve Warren has become sole managing director at heritage U.K. bed maker Sleepeezee with Howard Wilson having decided to take the first steps towards retirement after 45 years in the mattress industry.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Almost all U.K. bed manufacturers have already or will soon pass on rising input costs to retailers, according to a new poll by the National Bed Federation (NBF).
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
A ramp up in customer installations helped national bedroom retailer Sharps to a more than three-fold climb in profits in the final three months of 2020.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
The parliamentarian representing one of the bed trade's most industrious areas says the furniture industry needs to take steps to ensure it is not over reliant on E.U. markets.
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Continued top line growth last year helped ecommerce home and living giant Wayfair book its first profit since both its IPO in 2014 and its rebrand from CSN Stores a decade ago.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The CEO of Recticel has pinned rising prices for foam at the door of the chemicals sector, citing numerous force majeure events for creating supply shortages of polyols and isocyanates.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Profits more than doubled for the group behind the motion upholstery and beds brands Ashley Anderson and Willowbrook as revenue continued to rise in the lead up to the pandemic and in the period since.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Customers' pre-Brexit stockpiling prompted Glasswells, best known for its furniture retail business, to double capacity at its commercial storage arm.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Flooring manufacturer and wholesaler Victoria has issued £500 million of new bonds, more than 40 percent higher than originally planned after strong investor demand.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Two new Fabb Furniture stores will open for the first time when restrictions are eased in April with up to three more planned for later this year, by which time it will have completed rebranding its entire estate.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Peter Jenkins, who succeeded Dwell founder Aamir Ahmad as CEO two years ago, is to leave the DFS-owned urban furniture brand.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Furniture Industry Group says he sees little chance for any adjustments to the non-essential retail category before April, all but extinguishing any lingering hopes for Easter store trade.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
A combination of high demand and routine maintenance could reignite foam supply issues according to Europur, the European Association of Flexible Polyurethane Foam Block Manufacturers.
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- ECOMMERCE
The ecommerce group behind the JD Williams and Home Essentials ecommerce and mail-order businesses has hired Ron McMillan as chairman to replace Matt Davies, who will step down at the end of March.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Carpet and vinyl flooring manufacturers and distributors are facing up to supply shortages and cost increases for yarn, PVC and other raw materials with a significant knock-on effect expected for retailers.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
It could be almost May before furniture and floorcoverings retailers are able to reopen stores in Scotland but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday left the door ajar for a possible earlier return.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
History could view the pandemic as the moment that sustainability issues went beyond awareness to actually influencing consumer decision-making, says a company at the vanguard of the circular beds economy.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
A 650 basis point improvement in gross margin helped counter the impact of lower revenue at comfort foam supplier Carpenter in the period leading up to the pandemic.
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Pan-European home and living retailer Home24 said sales jumped 42 percent in 2020 with the German-based business getting this year off to an even stronger start.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
The liquidator and lawyers chasing the former owner of Collins & Hayes for a portion of the seven-figure sum his company received for selling its intellectual property have scored a victory in the battle to recoup funds for creditors.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
J Sainsbury, the supermarket giant, has recapitalised the operating company of its Habitat furniture and homewares retail brand for the second time in three years.
- Details
- ECOMMERCE
An online retailer behind multiple branded bedding websites slipped to a loss last year after higher sales costs hit margins.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Carpet and flooring manufacturer and wholesaler Victoria is to refinance with a leverage-neutral bond issue for €350 million.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture and flooring retailers in England face another seven weeks of mandated closure with the earliest possible reopening date being a week after the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, habitually a money-spinning period for the trade.
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- ECOMMERCE
One in every three pounds spent on key furniture items such as sofas was spent online in 2020 as ecommerce surged and store sales fell sharply as a result of mandated shop closures and changing consumer behaviour.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
David Fletcher has joined diversified Wakefield based manufacturer GNG Group as key accounts director for its beds division, including its Komfi brand.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Department store retailer John Lewis & Partners could close up to a further eight stores on top of a similar number that remained shut after the first lockdown last year, according to weekend press reports.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
West Yorkshire bed manufacturer Duvalay has strengthened its senior leadership team with appointments that bolster its family-owned and run credentials.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Consumer big-ticket spend intention this month reached its highest level since February last year, according to polling company GfK.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The chairman of Harrison Spinks says the pandemic has accelerated the bed maker's pace of innovation with it having launched a product at "hyper speed" when it was forced to close last March.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture and lighting sales dropped sharply as expected in January as a result of retailers only being able to deliver products rather than take new orders from anywhere other than the Internet.
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Office furniture conglomerate Herman Miller says the business has invested heavily in product adaptation and online with retail becoming more important amid work-from-home directives in key markets.
- Details
- TRADE & INDUSTRY
Two MPs in furniture manufacturing strongholds will join the heads of Britain's leading industry trade associations for the second episode in the Innovation In Times Of Crisis webinar series.
- Details
- CASE GOODS
China was the only major cabinet furniture source nation to match year-earlier levels in 2020 as the pandemic clipped imports into the U.K. from most key markets.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Rising upstream supply chain costs have reached the consumer, with furniture retail price inflation increasing to its highest level since October 2017.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
A rush of imports in the final quarter meant Britain brought more foreign-made mattresses into the U.K. for the seventh year in a row in 2020.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
National retailer Furniture Village has become one of the first companies in the industry to adopt testing at scale as it looks to remain at the vanguard of efforts to keep its business, employees and customers Covid secure.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Profits advanced at designer kitchenware and housewares brand Joseph Joseph in 2019–20 with the privately-owned design and wholesale company citing strong growth in the period since.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Shares in direct-to-consumer brand Eve Sleep reached their highest level since July 2019 after a tie-up between the mattress and ancillary products company and a wellness cannabis distributor was revealed.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
A glut of containers arriving at U.K. ports from China in December meant sofa imports passed all previous record-highs for the second straight month as the industry rushed to get Christmas orders delivered.
- Details
- REGIONAL
Devon department store retailer Austins of Newton Abbot returned to profit in the year leading up to the pandemic on higher sales and wider margins.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM) is supporting a series of virtual round table events as it looks to gather industry opinion on the sector's path to a net zero carbon future.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Carpet imports into the U.K. climbed for a second straight month in December but it was a miserable end to the year for Belgian manufacturers, who have suffered more than most through 2020.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The new owner of the Laura Ashley brand and other intellectual property has agreed a manufacturing and product development partnership with Graham & Brown, the wallpaper and paints manufacturer.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The owner of Bensons for Beds will recoup the vast majority of the debt it was owed from the prepack restructure of what was Blue Group according to a new report by restructuring advisors.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Profits climbed sharply at carpet maker Cormar in 2019–20 on the back of wider margins, surging demand following the first lockdown and after annualising non-recurring expenses from the previous year.
- Details
- ECOMMERCE
Online home, garden and living retailer Cox & Cox continued to build out sales in 2019–20 with it citing rapid growth in the furniture category as a key driver.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Dunelm deputy chairman Will Adderley has cut his stake in the company by selling his first shares in the homewares retailer in nearly five years.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
The lobby group representing Britain's furniture industry has written to the Chancellor calling for support measures such as the furlough scheme to be extended when the Budget is announced next month.
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