Furniture etailer Loaf plans to open London stores

Furniture etailer Loaf plans to open 10 stores in the next four years as it eyes London for its first tranche of bricks-and-mortar shops.

The etailer, in which Monsoon Accessorize founder Peter Simon took a minority stake in January, is scouting “prominent” locations in the capital with the aim of opening five ‘Loaf Shacks’ within three years. It also plans to open a further five in the Southeast within a four-year timeframe.

Loaf has one showroom at present at its office in Notting Hill. The etailer has hired property agent MMX Retail to hunt for stores of between 4,000 sq ft and 12,000 sq ft and intends to create an informal environment where customers can “loaf around” on the product.

Loaf founder Charlie Marshall said: “Following our enormous success in the online market, we now want to establish a physical presence to complement our etail offer.

“Whilst Loaf has experienced rapid sales growth year-on-year since our 2008 start-up, we want our customers to be able to interact with our growing range of products, whilst retaining our unique approach to retailing.

“The Loaf Shacks will operate in a manner that reflects our products: relaxed and easygoing, but without ever compromising on the high-quality standards that define Loaf as a brand.”

Loaf has achieved average annual sales growth of 81% over the last three years.

Loaf started as a bed etailer but expanded into sofas and kitchen tables in 2012. It recently added kitchen accessories and storage, console tables and home office furniture to its offer.