Recession will create £855m opportunity for home furnishings retailers

27th May 2009 | recession | Furniture and flooring firms will be battling to pick up an estimated £855m bounty in the aftermath of the recession.

That’s the view of retail analyst Verdict Research, which has put a figure on the value of sales that will be up for grabs as a result of retailers going out of business during the current downturn.

Lead analyst Maureen Hinton warned, however, that Verdict believed it was the major retailers who stood to gain most. She said, ‘Once the housing market recovers, the main players and non-specialists in furniture and floorcoverings are set to benefit from the £855m that we estimate will be available.’

Across all retail sectors, Verdict says £3.9bn of retail spend will effectively be waiting to be claimed from the fallout of the recession - more than £1bn of which will be in the clothing and footwear sectors.