Furniture Village updates image to target younger shoppers amid investment

The furniture specialist is rolling out a “more contemporary” cyan logo as part of a strategy of attracting shoppers younger than its core 45 to 65-year-old customer base.

Furniture Village hopes to steal young customers away from Ikea and Argos by making its proposition - which is at the top end of the volume market - more attractive to a younger audience.

Furniture Village chief executive Peter Harrison added the rebrand will be supported by a “smartening” of its stores and investing a “substantial sum” of money into launching a mobile website.

Harrison explained the £6m investment will free up the independent company to “do things we would have otherwise waited a long time to do”.

Alongside a revamp of its existing 40 stores, the retailer will also invest in upsizing some of its current store estate and rolling out three or four new stores a year.

The retailer is upsizing three stores in the first wave, with its Hove store being increased by 4,000 sq ft to around 20,000 sq feet, while another three stores have been earmarked for expansion at a later date.

The store expansion will allow Furniture Village to roll out further concessions such as its existing relationship with Hammonds and expand its accessories product range.

Harrison believes the retail estate could expand to 50 stores as part of its current expansion plans and the retailer has already exchanged on an Enfield location and hopes to establish a stronger presence in Yorkshire.

News of the investment comes after a strong week of trading for Furniture Village. Harrison said visits to the website were up 50% year-on-year over the weekend and sales increased 13% across the whole of last week.

Harrison said: “It is a real breakthrough. For someone like the Business Growth Fund to invest in furniture retailing is a superb endorsement of where we are and the kind of business we are.”