Furniture Village is a British
furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...
retailer
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
. It has over fifty stores throughout the United Kingdom, the first of which was opened in
Abingdon, and also sells online. The company is headquartered in
Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
. It is the largest privately owned furniture chain in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
Their target market is the upper end of the price range for the moderately rich.
["Sofa so good: Furniture Village founder Peter Harrison has underpinned the success of his brand with lucrative property strategies. Christine Eade sits down for a chat."](_blank)
Property Week
''Property Week'' is a UK business-to-business magazine which reports on the worldwide commercial and residential property market. It reports news, features and analysis and the latest information from the industry - from development opportuniti ...
, 9 July 2004. Their advertising has attempted to establish quality, rather than price, as the distinguishing point from competitors
DFS.
History
The company was established in 1989 by Peter Harrison and David Imrie in partnership with
Cadogan Estates
Cadogan Group Limited and its subsidiaries, including Cadogan Estates Limited, are British property investment and management companies that are owned by the Cadogan family, one of the richest families in the United Kingdom, which also holds ...
. Cadogan Estates sold its 70% stake in the chain to its management, led by Peter Harrison, in December 2001.
In August 2002, Furniture Village bought three Conroys stores from the
administrators
Administrator or admin may refer to:
Job roles Computing and internet
* Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database
* Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum
* N ...
to give it a presence in
North East England
North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...
. Also in 2002, the company launched an upmarket retail brand, the London Furniture Company, but this was unsuccessful and closed in 2005.
Awards
Furniture Village has won trade magazine Cabinet Maker's awards for small, medium and large retailer of the year.
It won the ''National Interiors Retailer of the Year'' award for 2007. Furniture Village has won The National Bed Federation (NBF) award for ''Multiple Bed Retailer of the Year 2014/15''. The award was presented at a gala dinner following the UK's largest bed exhibition, The Telford Bed Show, where the UK's leading bed retailers and suppliers were in attendance.
In June 2020, they won the Retail Family Business of the Year.
The company was also named Bed Retailer of the Year 2020/2021 by the National Bed Federation.
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Official site
Furniture retailers of the United Kingdom
Retail companies established in 1989
Companies based in Slough
Retail companies of England
Furniture companies of England
1989 establishments in England