Even though a wide range of generalist retailers carry furniture, the specialists sector is robust, with some excellent retailers building share of the market. In the two years from 2014-16 there have been stock market flotations for two major sofa businesses, DFS and ScS, both using the funds generated to expand their store estate. And Sun European Partners is considering the sale of Dreams at the end of 2016. Others on a growth trajectory include Oak Furniture Land, Wren and IKEA. However, competition is tough and several general ‘home’ shops are expanding their footprint, catering for the customer who wants to see furniture and accessories under one roof. Internet browsing is a core activity these days and online shopping is growing. But when people buy furniture they like to judge comfort, colour and quality by touching and seeing the products, and indeed they enjoy the experience of visiting furniture shops. Many businesses that originated as online sellers have opened stores and most that operate shops now trade online. Multichannel retailing is and will continue to be the right business model in this sector.
Products covered in this Report
This Report covers the retailing of the following types of furniture:
Living and dining room furniture
Bedroom furniture, including beds and mattresses
Home office furniture.
We cover bathroom and kitchen furniture in more detail in separate Reports and have included beds and bedroom retailers in this Report, but these are also covered in more detail in a separate Report.
See:
Bathrooms and Bathroom Accessories – UK, August 2015
Kitchens and Kitchen Furniture – UK, September 2015
Bedrooms and Bedroom Furniture – UK, October 2014
This Report does not cover any furniture sold on contract for the non-domestic market (such as hotels and hospitals) and excludes second-hand and antique furniture. Other specialist sectors not included in the scope of this Report are nursery furniture (i.e. cots, cribs and cot mattresses, a sector covered in Baby and Nursery Equipment – UK, February 2016). And we exclude retailers of garden furniture.
