MFI returns to the home furnishings market
Home furnishing retailer MFI is back in business once more, this time as an online retailer.
The company, which collapsed into administration three years ago, has returned to the UK home furnishings market, but will not be opening any bricks-and-mortar stores. Instead it will sell its range of affordable home furnishings through its website. However this time around there will be no kitchens on sale.
The MFI brand was bought from the administrators by Walker Capital, owner of online bathroom retailer Victoria Plumb, in 2010 for £250,000. MFI says its management team has been developing the re-launch of the MFI brand for nearly 2 years.
The team is headed by commercial director Adrian Storr who has 15 years retail experience, including nine years at MFI. Commenting on the decison to launch an online business, Storr told the Financial Times: “Furniture retailers saddled with high property costs sadly find it very difficult to operate.”
Storr said that the online only model would help the retailer to sell its furniture “at a lower margin than our rivals,” and that MFI would specialise in furniture, beds and bathroom suites, which were the best performing items on MFI’s previous website.
