Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Cargo owner JW Carpenter has launched its first store trading under a new fascia, Homestyle.
Homestyle will focus primarily on a range of home textiles and soft furnishings, but will also sell selected products from the Cargo assortment.
The new store, in Bedford, will be joined by two others in Reading and Andover before the end of June, each store creating up to eight jobs. A further 20 sites have been identified and will open this autumn.
JW Carpenter says Homestyle will trade predominantly in retail parks from 3,000sq ft premises. Most stores will be in partnership with Bensons for Beds in space formerly occupied by Rosebys.
Tony Richards, who led successful management buy-outs of Rosebys and Fabric Warehouse, and Malcolm Williams, who has held senior posts at Ponden Mill and Christy, were appointed in April to lead the new venture.
JW Carpenter managing director Clive Gilbert said the men had “outstanding knowledge of the sector. With the help of the Cargo central team and infrastructure we’ve managed to create and launch this new concept within a matter of weeks. The reaction we’ve had from suppliers and customers to this new initiative has been hugely encouraging.”
The company says that, with the recent demise of many household textile names, it had identified an opportunity for the sale of bedlinen, curtains, bathroom ranges, home accessories, tracks, poles and blinds.
