British bed retailer and manufacturer Dreams was founded in 1987 by Mike Clare. It currently operates around 190 stores, as well as its own mattress factory. Dreams positions itself as a “sleep expert” and is focused on establishing its credentials as the “most recommended” bed specialist. Its ranges consist of branded beds, divans, bedsteads, adjustable beds, mattresses, futons, bunkbeds and sofa beds. It also sells duvets, pillows and bed linen. In 2013, Dreams went into administration and was bought by Sun European Partners. It has since launched a number of three-year turnaround programmes. Its current focus is digital investment including a new web platform launched in 2018. It aims to prepare the business for the next generation of shoppers willing to purchase beds and mattresses online. It is also honing personalisation skills and achieving a single view of the customer. A key part of Dreams’ turnaround strategy has been on manufacturing, with product improvements reducing returns rates. It has also driven a ‘replace every eight’ campaign to encourage new mattress sales.
There was a horrible novelty to the first lockdown. We’d never been there before and the first priority was colleague safety and then to focus on keeping operations going.
After three months of shuttered doors due to the coronavirus, English non-essential retail reopened to the public on Monday. Retail Week analyses the lessons to be learnt from the first days of trading.
Retail destinations across England saw footfall numbers soar on the day that non-essential retailers were allowed to reopen stores, with queues forming for the likes of Primark, H&M and Zara.
“Won’t it be great when things are back to normal?” you hear people say.
Dreams chief executive Mike Logue talks about moving from two-man to two-van delivery, repurposing its factory to produce PPE and other operational changes brought on by coronavirus in recent weeks.
Advertisement
