Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Value retailer QD Group has expanded its high street presence with the acquisition of discount chain Thingmebobs.
The latter, based in Ingham, Suffolk, has a turnover of £6.5m and employs over 100 staff at stores in Clacton, Newmarket, Halstead, Haverhill, March, Attleborough, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds and Ely.
The deal boosts Norwich-based QD’s retail presence to 49 outlets operating under the QD Stores, Lathams of Potter Heigham and Cherry Lane Garden Centre brands, which extend from eastern England and the Home Counties as far north as Doncaster and west to Wrexham.
Under QD ownership, the Thingmebobs chain will continue to trade under its own name, with co-founder Colin Lawrence taking on a senior management role within QD. No staff redundancies are planned.
QD Group, which sells everything from housewares and DIY products to clothing and furniture, posted record like-for-like sales over the Christmas trading period, up 8.19%. Household cleaning products and toiletries rose 44%, while plant and seed sales at the Cherry Lane Garden Centres increased by 26.37%.
Managing director Justin Farrington Smith said the acquisition of its rival was “a natural fit with tremendous mutual synergy. This deal takes our group into market towns we have long aspired to attain a presence in.”
