Bensons for Beds is set to open more than a dozen new stores in 2024 as it continues with its store expansion drive.
Chief executive Nick Collard said the furniture retailer was targeting 15 new locations this year and up to 20 in 2025 as it continued to grow its shop portfolio.
“Bensons historically has had over 200 stores in the UK and at the moment, we’re just around 170. Our ambition over the next couple of years is to try to close that gap and reach a target of over 200 stores,” he told Retail Gazette.
“We want to try and grow by around a net 15 this year and then 15 to 20 the following year.”
The furniture boss is also looking to open more stores within the M25 on top of its existing 10 and has plans to test new smaller format branches.
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“One of the areas we are focused on is within the M25 where there are less big retail parks and we believe there are more opportunities as to how we bring Bensons to some of those communities,” said Collard.
“In certain locations, there’s an opportunity to test and trial some smaller format stores.”
However, Collard said that trialling smaller locations would likely begin in early 2025.
The store expansion plans come as Bensons for Beds revealed it was back in the black, posting an EBITDA profit of £1.5m in the 53 weeks to 30 September, up from a £15.4m loss.
“They often say to fix the roof while the sun is shining, we’ve had to fix the roof while the rain has been pouring through the ceiling,” said Collard.
“Businesses can often cope with one event but we’ve had two things going on. To be able to do that turnaround and shift our sales by 7.5% and be able to return to profitability in a world where the market has, from a volume perspective, been in double digit decline has been a result the whole business is really proud of.”
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