Dwell guns for growth in tenants’ market

Aamir Ahmad, managing director of the 12-store retailer, said: “We have a road map of where we want the stores to go. The market is still favourable to tenants so it is a good time to acquire stores.”

In the year to January 2010, Dwell recorded “fairly flat” like-for-likes and revenue “slightly up” on the year before.

“We had a much stronger second half compared with the first,” said Ahmad, who added that Dwell is running double-digit up on a like-for-like basis in the year to date. “The January Sale went very well, although the snow was a pain.”

He added that Dwell’s sales “did not fall off a cliff” during the cold snap in January, as it is “protected by the internet and mail order”, which accounts for half the retailer’s sales.

He said the expansion of Dwell - which will next month debut on London’s Tottenham Court Road, a destination for furniture shoppers, in a former The Pier store - depends upon finding the right stores. It is also in discussions to open a shop in Kingston upon Thames.

Dwell expressed interest in acquiring the UK arm of Habitat when it was put up for sale last year, and Ahmad said he would consider other opportunities to acquire a “complementary UK furniture retailer”.

He said: “We will expand the business organically through our own funding. We want to grow within our own resources, we want to be prudent.”

Dwell this month hired Harrods head of own-brand products Robyn Clifford as its buying and merchandise director. At the end of last year Dwell drafted in Kurt Geiger and T J Hughes chairman Neil McCausland as its chairman and Harveys’ Simon Tutt as its financial director.

“These three big hirings have completely transformed the business,” said Ahmad, who added that Clifford will introduce “more excitement and newness” into the Dwell offering.

Dwell has five concessions in Selfridges and House of Fraser and plans on opening more this year.