Dunelm hails strong final quarter
Dunelm has posted a 4% total sales uplift to £415 million in its fourth quarter following a strong performance in both full price and summer sale items.
In the 13 weeks to 28 June, some of the best performing categories included outdoor furniture and decorative outdoor accessories as the retailer benefited from warmer weather at the start and end of the quarter.
Meanwhile, full year sales to 28 June rose by 3.8% year-on-year to £1.77 billion with digital sales accounting for 40% of the total. The retailer expects full year profit to be in line with expectations at around £210 million.
During the quarter, Dunelm invested in four new stores including one small superstore in Trowbridge, large superstores in Manchester and Southend, and a relocation to a bigger shop in Peterborough. This meant that Dunelm opened six new superstores across the full year.
Subscribe to TRBIt also acquired the Designers Guild brand and design archive and appointed Clo Moriarty to succeed Nick Wilkinson as chief executive when he retires after seven years in the role.
Commenting on the performance, Wilkinson said: “We’ve had a good final quarter with continued growth and further strategic progress.
“Customers responded well to offers across our categories in our summer sale, and we saw strong demand for our Summer Living ranges, particularly as customers focused on their outdoor spaces during the warmer weather.
“We opened four new superstores in the final quarter alone, and our acquisition of the Designers Guild brand and archive presents an exciting opportunity to introduce new, iconic designs to our customers.
“These strategic developments conclude a year marked by a number of ‘firsts’, including international expansion into Ireland; deploying AI to improve our website experience; and opening our first inner London store at Westfield White City.”
Looking ahead, Dunelm said it is yet to see signs of a consumer recovery, but is confident in its ability to deliver further market share gains.
Wilkinson added: “Amidst muted consumer confidence, we are not standing still waiting for a recovery.
“We are instead focused on delivering relevance to our customers, to help build greater trust in the quality, value and breadth of our offer, harnessing our unique strengths as a multi-category specialist.”
