Mountain Warehouse reports record full year sales
Outdoor retailer Mountain Warehouse increased its sales by 30.8% to a record £184.8 million in the year to 28 February to mark 20 years of unbroken revenue growth.
Like-for-like sales surged by 16.5% while pre-tax profit climbed by 22% to £19.8 million.
During the year, Mountain Warehouse opened 41 branches which created more than 400 jobs. At the year-end the company had more than 262 stores including over 60 in six countries overseas.
In the UK, new openings in the past year included stores in Winchester, York, Chester, Oban, Fowey, Oakham, Salisbury and Sherborne.
Mountain Warehouse founder and chief executive Mark Neale said: “We started with a single shop in 1997 and 10 years later in 2007 we had around 40 stores with sales of about £20 million. My wife used to say that it took us 10 years to become an overnight success! The downturn in 2008 allowed us to start growing really quickly when stores became easier to find and customers were looking for fantastic value. We passed 100 stores in 2010 and have been on a steep climb since then with online and international playing a bigger and bigger part in the business.”
International sales doubled and accounted for 25% of revenue in the period. This was up from 20% in the previous 12 months. The company is exploring the possibility of opening stores in Czech Republic following the success of its business in Poland where it has opened three more stores in recent weeks, taking the total to 15. It is also looking for more sites in Germany.
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