Electricals group DSGi’s Currys megastore in Thurrock delivered one of its best trading weekends ever when rival Best Buy opened its first UK shop nearby last week.
The 70,000 sq ft DSGi Currys store managed to turn in its third best performance, eclipsed only by its opening weekend last autumn and Christmas, it is understood.
DSGi chiefs are said to be delighted with how the shop fared as Best Buy attracted queues of shoppers. Megastores, and two-in-one Currys and PC World shops, are at the heart of DSGi chief executive John Browett’s renewal and transformation plan and, combined with improved levels of service, have lifted profitability.
The Currys megastore is likely to have benefited from footfall stimulated by Best Buy’s opening, industry observers believe, and exact details of its performance and internal expectations are unknown.
Shore Capital analyst Kate Calvert said the megastore’s showing helped demonstrate the “robustness” of the DSGi model but cautioned: “It can’t become complacent because not many people yet know what Best Buy is.”
A DSGi spokesman would not comment on the Thurrock store’s performance other than to say it had a “cracking” weekend.
Best Buy labelled its debut a red letter day. Chief executive of branded operations Paul Antoniadis said last Friday’s opening was “on track to be the biggest ever opening day for a Best Buy store anywhere in the world by volume of sales”.
After visiting the Best Buy store Calvert said: “We are comfortable with Currys and PC World’s industry-leading UK market position. Even if Best Buy does achieve its business model targets by 2016/17, DSGi’s UK business will still be twice the size of Best Buy’s big box business and should have scale advantage on its side.”
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