Member Article

Company's latest store opening is best ever

A family-run flooring retailer’s new store in Birmingham has become its busiest in the UK – only a month after it was opened by the country’s small business commissioner. Footfall at the Flooring Superstore on the Ravenside Retail Park in Erdington is the highest compared to the other 11 stores which have been opened across England, Scotland and Wales over the last two years.

The company behind the store, Connection Retail, say sales figures for the £150,000, 5,000-square foot store were up 22% from the original forecast.

The store was opened on 30th March by Small Business Commissioner Paul Uppal.

Managing Director Dan Foskett said: “Over the last few years we have opened Flooring Superstores in cities such as York and Edinburgh, so we are delighted that the new store in Birmingham has surpassed these in terms of footfall.

“It was always our ambition to open a store in Birmingham and we would like to thank local people for their support.

“Less than three years ago, we were purely an online business and now we’re rapidly emerging as a major player on the high street, with stores in major conurbations across the UK and more planned in 2019 and beyond.”

One of the factors which has contributed to the success of the Erdington store has been a ‘Golden Ticket’ promotion. This has seen golden tickets being given to shoppers who provide contact details and the tickets contain a range of in-store discounts.

The biggest prize, £1,000 discount off flooring, has yet to be claimed.

Dan added: “This the first time we have ran a promotion like this, but it has proven very popular and we are now planning to roll this out for other store openings.

“It’s going to be a nice surprise when the person with the £1,000 golden ticket opens it to discover what they have won.”

The Erdington store created three new jobs for local people. It is the 12th opened by family-run Connection Retail, with other stores in Edinburgh, Swindon, Newport, 2 x York, Coventry, Thurrock, Bracknell, Gateshead, Havant and Keighley.

People who visit the stores can choose flooring from three brands owned by Connection Retail – Flooring Superstore, Direct Wood Flooring and Grass Direct.

The stores sell carpets and a huge range of other flooring, such as laminate and luxury vinyl tiles and the UK’s largest selection of artificial grass. The latter is designed to meet the growing demand from householders for artificial, rather than real, grass.

Further store openings are planned this year in Bristol, Glasgow, Stockport, Milton Keynes and Crewe.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Neil Shaefer .