Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Australian housewares retailer HOUSE has made its UK debut with the launch of three stores and an ecommerce website.
The first branch opened at the Westgate shopping centre in Oxford on April 16, coinciding with the launch of www.houseuk.com.
This was followed by a store at the Lexicon shopping centre in the Berkshire town of Bracknell on April 22 and a unit at the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield on April 28.
Two more branches, at Chapelfield shopping centre in Norwich and The Mall at Cribbs Causeway shopping centre in Bristol, are scheduled to open by the end of this month.
Through its physical and online stores, HOUSE UK is initially
offering more than 4,000 products including cookware, bakeware, glassware, kitchen gadgets, small electricals, knives, table linens and accessories.
The website currently lists 2,000 products across seven categories: kitchen, cookware, knives, bakeware, food prep, electrical and tea & coffee
Five items are highlighted as ‘top sellers’. The website explains: ‘These have been our most popular and loved products.’ They are: Alex Liddy Modern White 18 Piece Coupe Dinner Set (£139.99), Cuisinepro iconiX 10 Piece Pan Set (£750.00), Smeg Pastel Blue 50s Style Blender (£149.99), Ulster Weavers Cotton Tea Towel Royal Wedding Traditional (£8.99) and Cuisinepro Damashiro 6-Piece Knife Block (£525).
A list of ‘top brands’ on the home page includes Cole & Mason, Jamie Oliver, LSA International, Smeg, Joseph Joseph, Zyliss, Ken Hom and Microplane, along with exclusive HOUSE brands Cuisinepro and Alex Liddy.
Founded in 1978, HOUSE bills itself as Australia’s largest specialty homewares retailer. It has ambitious plans to open 75 stores across the UK within three years, creating 1,000 jobs.
HOUSE executive chairman and ceo Steven Lew said: “We announced our plans for HOUSE to expand into the UK market last year, and we plan to continue our roll-out swiftly.
“We are passionate about cooking, dining and entertaining, and our ambition is to be the ‘go-to’ destination for people who share our passion.
“Our expansion will be very much opportunity-led, and our strategy is to create a sustainable operation that prioritises being best-in-class, over being the biggest.”
Along with sister retail chain Robins Kitchen in Australia, HOUSE is part of Global Retail Brands, which has more than 170 stores reaching across all Australian states and territories.
Global Retail Brands also operates the ecommerce websites for HOUSE, Robins Kitchen, Pet House and Your Home Depot.
