Partner Article

Furniture store saved by Collectables

A furniture store and the jobs of its eight staff have been saved after it was bought by the Collectables giftware chain.

Collectables, which has nine North East stores specialising in china, gifts, kitchenware and designer fashion accessories had no plans to move into the furniture market.

But when the owners of Mandale Fine Furniture of Stockton announced they were retiring, an unexpected opportunity arose.

Managing director Phillip Lewis said: “We’ve become well know for our innovation and diversity and when the management of our neighbour announced they were retiring, we were glad to welcome the brand into the Collectables family.

“It’s not an easy time to come into this market, or to be in any quality retail business for that matter, and it’s not going to be a straightforward ride for us but we’re very comfortable with what we do, and we’re quite excited about the challenges it presents.

“We’ve formed a new link between the two stores so customers can now walk directly from Collectables into Mandale, and we’ve taken on interior designers to create individual bays that show the furniture off to its full advantage.”

Collectables’ North East stores are in Alnwick, Newcastle, four in MetroCentre, Sunderland, Stockton and Harrogate.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .