Upmarket furniture and homewares retailer Lombok has launched its first range of light wood furniture as it seeks to attract a wider audience.
The chain, which offers products inspired by and sourced in South-east Asia, has traditionally sold dark wood furniture. The lighter ranges are being introduced to two stores this week, and to the remainder of Lombok’s UK branches in the next fortnight. The range will be rolled out online next month.
Managing director William Landale said: “Lombok is going light. We have always been dark but now we want to broaden our appeal. It will be the bedrock of how we’re going to get through this tough period.
“We want to do something different and creative, that doesn’t just bang on about price. You have to look for avenues to increase revenue and keep the tills ringing.”
The Beijing and Shanghai collections are painted white and grey respectively. Both ranges – handmade from American hard wood that comes from managed forestry sources – include furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and study.
Landale said the retail environment is tough but Lombok is “keeping its head down and driving forward”. He added: “We had a good Christmas and a good January. February wasn’t so good, but March is better.”
On the issue of the withdrawal of credit insurance to some other furniture retailer suppliers, Landale said: “Most of our suppliers have a marked sense of co-operation, that we are all in this together.”
In the past 12 months Lombok has made other operational changes in order to ride out the downturn. Last summer the retailer ramped up its clearance space in its London warehouse in an effort to lure in cash-strapped shoppers. It also tweaked its ranges to add room for lower-priced accessories.
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