The owner of British womenswear brand Hobbs and South African clothing brand Foschini recently expanded its furniture and home goods business by purchasing Tapestry Home Brands for the mid-to-high-end market earlier this year and relaunching the brand. Jet Home as part of its low-cost clothing brand. , Jet.
The expansion came at a time when demand for furniture and home goods had increased as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions forced people to work and study at home, a trend that is slowing as work-from-home mandates have been relaxed and discretionary spending comes under pressure.
But TFG Chief Executive Anthony Thunström still sees strong demand for the company’s lower-cost housewares as wealthy customers continue to buy items for their homes, he told Reuters.
For this reason, TFG wants to expand the group’s furniture and household items portfolio by opening 100 new stores under the Tapestry brand, which owns the Coricraft, Volpes and Dial-a-bed chains, and 150 Jet Home stores in the next three years. he told investors.
TFG, which also has operations in Britain and Australia, is also piloting manufacturing of previously imported @Home sofas in South Africa to reduce reliance on strained global supply lines and associated increases in shipping costs and delivery times. .
“The first samples that came out of production cost 20-25% less than importing. So we thought, particularly in a tough environment, if we can pass 20-25% savings on our highest cost item to a consumer is going to drive volume, it’s going to drive margins,” Thunström said.
TFG reported an 18.1% rise in HEPS and retail turnover growth of 23.5% to R23.5bn in the six months ending September 30.
($1 = R17.2532)
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; edited by David Evans, Bradley Perrett, and Louise Heavens)
By Nqobile Dludla