Strategic Retail chief rescues raft of stores

Roy Gabbie, who formerly owned Stationery Box, has bought 27 of the 47 Fads, Texstyle World and Leveys stores that went into administration this week.

Gabbie, who bought the shops and brands under his acquisition vehicle Diva Limit, wants to position all the stores at the value end of the market – a plan Strategic Retail had put into action before it hit the buffers.

Gabbie has bought 20 Fads stores, some of which trade as Leveys in the northeast of England, and seven Texstyle stores. Fads stocks paint and wallpaper, while Texstyle World has furniture as well as textiles in its stores.

He will concentrate on developing Texstyle World initially and steer it towards the more value offering of sister brand Fads. “Texstyle World is where the future lies in terms of growth,” said Gabbie. “But we are not looking to relinquish the Fads brand.”

He added: “We want to be a specialist in the home textiles market. People are still buying but they are trading down. A recession is a good time to build a value chain.”

Gabbie said there is scope for a further 10 Texstyle World stores next year, with more of an emphasis on the high street as opposed to retail parks. “We will expand organically or through acquisitions to get better economies of scale,” he said.

He added that he will prioritise stabilising the business and getting the right product into stores. “I want to get to grips with the business,” he said. “There will be heavy involvement from myself; my main strength is in sourcing products. We want to buy the right merchandise that will offer value to the customer.”

More than 200 jobs were saved as a result of the deal. Administrator Kay Johnson Gee has control of the remaining stores.

Shares in AIM-listed Strategic Retail were suspended last week after it appointed an administrator to the three brands. Gabbie said the retailer was hit hard by the credit crunch and high rents.