Fludes Carpets to close Worthing store as sales across its portfolio drop 10%

18th August 2009 | flooring | One of Britain’s highest regarded independent flooring retailers will close an underperforming store as it looks to cut costs.

Seven-store Sussex and Dorset retailer Fludes Carpets has served a notice to exercise a break clause on its Worthing branch in July of next year – saying the store has not performed well in recent years and that its closure will result in significant cost savings for the firm.

In the year to the end of April, the retailer saw a 10% drop in sales across all its stores to £3.2m – its lowest turnover figure for at least six years. The firm’s management said sales have continued to deteriorate by about 10% in the ten weeks since the end of its financial year.

Pre-tax profits dropped 26% to £169k, although this is higher than the £136k return in 2006, when sales were at a five year peak of £3.61m.

The retailer said low consumer confidence, the credit crunch and depressed economic activity had contributed to the downturn in the flooring sector, but that the company had ‘fared relatively well in a very challenging year.’

It added that gross margins had been maintained and progress had been made with overhead reductions, ‘resulting in a not disrespectful 26% drop in profitability.’

Fludes, which also has stores in Newhaven, Eastbourne, St Leonards, Haywards Heath, Uckfield and Boscombe, was recently voted the 2009 Best Flooring Retailer (3 plus stores) by Interiors Monthly magazine readers.