Furniture retailer and manufacturer Sharps has opened a new “more design-led” concept store in Rugby after a major investment, and says that it intends to roll out further stores using this format in the near future.
First established in the 1970s, Sharps Furniture sells fitted bedrooms, offices, living areas and boot rooms directly to consumers. It currently has around 30 showrooms throughout the country.
The new 3412 sq ft store is open now at Elliott’s Field Shopping Park, showing a range of room settings that go beyond the bedroom offering that Sharps has traditionally been known for.
The company says the new format has been specifically developed to emphasise the role of physical retail spaces within its business model. The idea is for the store to act as a design-led environment for customers where they can begin planning their space, before using Sharps’ in-home design consultation service.
Sharps has also emphasised that it is not looking to replace its existing in-home design model. Instead, it will use the store to offer an earlier stage to customers’ planning journeys, allowing them to view full room schemes, finishes and materials as well as have discussions with the company’s studio designers.
Sharps also plans to roll out further stores in this new format if the Rugby model proves to be successful, with several new locations already said to be planned.
“Our investment in Rugby is about defining what we need from physical retail as the customer journey continues to evolve,” said Paul McClenaghan, CEO of Sharps Furniture. “The showroom is no longer the only place where people begin researching a purchase, but that does not make the physical environment less important. It means it has to work harder. Customers need to be able to experience the quality of the product, explore different solutions and get meaningful design input when they visit.
“We have a very strong in-home sales and design model and that remains fundamental to the business. What this format allows us to do is strengthen the journey around it. A customer can begin thinking through their space, their style and what they need from it in store, and our experts can then take that thinking into the home and develop a solution around the realities of the individual property.
“The larger footprint also gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of what Sharps can now offer. We want customers to see us as a fitted furniture business for the whole home, and being able to show those different applications together is an important part of that. Rugby gives us a format from which we can learn as we continue to invest in our estate. It is about creating stores that have a clear role within the wider business and making physical retail work harder at every stage of the customer journey.”