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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Privately-owned furniture retailer Barker and Stonehouse will re-open its stores June 1 with a campaign message — Let's Get Going Britain — aimed at supporting home-grown furniture manufacturers.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Project restart continues with more retailers of furniture products now reopening some or all of their stores across England, where restrictions have been eased compared with other parts of the U.K.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
One of the U.K.'s biggest wholesalers of bedroom products has pivoted towards sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic and has now found a solution for retailers who are worried consumers may be reticent to try out mattresses instore once shops reopen.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
High-end furniture and lighting brand Gabriel Scott is expanding its U.K. and European distribution after it agreed a partnership with designer furniture retailer Nest to sell its products online.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Marks and Spencer Group (M&S), the general merchandise and food retailer, is to open up its business to third-party brands in a bid to boost its customer appeal and sales.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Store closures didn't stop furniture price inflation advancing last month, according to the Office for National Statistics, but eases at the factory gate and the need to generate sales means it will likely not last.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Parlane International, the home accents and décor wholesaler bought by Gallery Direct early last year, is for sale after being placed into administration.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The W Exhibition, the furniture manufacturing and joinery trade fair held every other year in Birmingham, has been postponed until September next year.
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N Brown, the home shopping group, says the launch of a standalone furniture and homewares business has provided a sales fillip amid a challenging backdrop.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Comply with social distancing guidelines and gain approval from your legal brief and you can open your store immediately, a state official has told one of the U.K. home furnishing industry's leading trade associations.
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- INTERNATIONAL
Heather Sonn, who has led the supervisory board of Steinhoff International Holdings since soon after accounting irregularities came to light late 2017, has resigned as chairperson.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
National retailer Furniture Village is reopening a handful of its stores across the country having implemented new measures to safeguard both customers and employees.
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- INTERNATIONAL
French furniture and home accents retailer Maisons du Monde has given up plans to build a network of stores for its core brand in the U.S., and will instead focus on the Modani business it bought in 2018.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Two-man furniture delivery crews are back on the road as U.K. furniture retailers unwind their order books ahead of a hoped-for June store re-opening.
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French furniture and home accents retailer Maisons du Monde said online orders in April skyrocketed, but it didn't list the U.K. among its top performing markets.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Marks & Spencer has brought forward the arrival of its new Clothing and Home managing director in a move that will free up more time for Steve Rowe, its chief executive.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The U.K. Government is to guarantee business-to-business transactions currently supported by Trade Credit Insurance, a decision that could prevent some furniture retailers from toppling over.
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Wayfair was not alone in seeing demand almost double in April with one of its biggest pan-European rivals seeing a similar upswing in demand as more customers stayed home and shopped online.
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Large pan-European furniture retailer Beliani — whose operations include a dedicated U.K. storefront — has become one of the first major home ecommerce businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
With stores shut and warehouses full-to-the-brim with stock from orders taken in the first two months of the year, a leap in cancellations has been among furniture retailers' biggest fears amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Floorcoverings and furnishings distributor Designer Contracts, a major supplier to the housebuilder industry, doubled profits last year after a large spike in output.
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Studio, the major general merchandise retailer that is transitioning from paper to digital distance selling, has appointed a new trading director with more than 15 years' senior experience.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Retail giant B&Q said sales fell by more than a fifth in the three months to end April but have recovered sharply after it re-opened its stores with new safety protocols in place.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
June 1 has been pencilled in by many U.K. furniture retailers as the earliest possible re-opening date after the Prime Minister announced the Government's plan to begin easing lockdown restrictions.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Swedish beds conglomerate Hilding Anders has wrapped up the sale of its upmarket British bedroom furniture chain Feather & Black.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Consumer attitudes to big-ticket spending improved at the end of last month but it remains to be seen whether it represented the start of a recovery or a dead cat bounce.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
At least 12 of Debenhams' 142-store U.K. retail portfolio will not re-open following its latest restructuring exercise after it announced a further five shop closures.
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- REGIONAL
Higher costs and a slight fall in sales meant profits were lower but still class-leading at South East furniture retailer Vale Furnishers last year.
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Ecommerce giant Wayfair has near doubled sales since lockdowns were introduced across the markets it operates, as customers shifted spending to the Internet for home goods.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Sweden's Nobia kitchen conglomerate says its U.K. business, headlined by retail chain Magnet, has experienced the worst impact from Government shelter-in-place orders.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
A small Cheshire wholesaler of household goods including bedroom storage is in administration and up for sale despite wiping out earlier deficits in recent years.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Home department store group Leekes has begun a partial reopening of its retail portfolio, starting with two of its units in Wales to shoppers seeking selected product lines.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The majority of the off-price department store chain TJ Hughes was sold for £24.4 million ahead of the residual nine-store business being restructured via a prepack deal earlier this spring.
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David Tyler, former chairman at retail giant Sainsbury's, has been appointed to the same post at furniture, home and apparel business The White Company.
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Exit from Internet furniture, home and lifestyle retailer coincides with appointment in the aviation services sector.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Four-store furniture and home accents retailer Graham and Green says it believes it has enough cash to survive the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic but it is still talking to bankers regarding securing additional finance in case the situation doesn't improve.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
General merchandise retailer Argos, one of the largest retailers of beds and furniture in the U.K., says its bulky goods home category has suffered despite overall sales spiking since the end of February.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Habitat is to strengthen ties with its parent company J Sainsbury under plans to raise interest in and extend the product catalogue of the iconic furniture and home accents brand.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Out-of-town home and furniture retailer Dunelm is heading to the High Street, with plans to open a small-format store with a new fascia in the South East of England.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Sales climbed at Knowsley furniture maker Dams last year as it continued its programme of upgrading its factory and equipment across upholstery and cabinet production.
