ScS Upholstery boosted by Courts closure
Store opening programme on track
Furniture retailer ScS Upholstery is on track for another year of store and sales growth after a strong performance in its January sale, helped by the collapse of rival Courts.
In a statement to shareholders at the group’s annual meeting, executive chairman Mike Browne said: “the sale had been “a successful period” with total sales orders intake for the first 18 weeks of the financial year “significantly higher” than last year. “Like-for-like sales order intake has strengthened since the final results announcement in November and is currently up 11 per cent.
ScS said its “impressive performance” was due to gaining extra market share, helped by the “recent demise of Courts”, which put its UK business into administration in November, as well as favourable weather conditions.
Expansion plans for the rest of the financial year include new stores at Watford in March, Barnsley in May and Chesterfield in August. The store in Stockton has been relocated “with great success”, and the Leeds operation will move to a more prominent site on the same retail park planned to open in the run-up to Easter.
Browne said: “We are delighted to have started the financial year with such a strong performance. However, whilst current trading remains strong, we are conscious of reports of uncertainty in consumer confidence and the possible challenges that this could present to the retail sector in 2005.”
