Poundworld, Tapi, Iceland, Pets at Home and Carpetright eye Brantano stores

It emerged this week that investor Alteri, which placed value shoe retailer Brantano into administration last month, has bought 81 of the stores and 59 concessions saving around 1,400 jobs. 

Retailers are now circling the remaining 57 stores that are still on the market.

Tapi founder Martin Harris, son of Carpetright founder Lord Harris, told Retail Week: “We’re looking at eight to 10. It will give us the opportunity to get stores in locations where we feel the Tapi brand will work really well.”

Tapi is pursuing an aggressive roll-out. The floorings retailer is opening three stores this week alone, in Poole, Guildford and Wolverhampton, taking its total store count to 32.

Value operator Poundworld is also running the rule over the rest of the Brantano stores, Retail Week understands.

A source close to the situation said Poundworld is “actively looking” but it’s “early days”. The source added: “A group of stores is potentially interesting.” The retailer is aiming to get an extra 200 stores in the next three years.

Iceland is also understood to have cast an eye over the list as it seeks to roll out its larger Food Warehouse fascia, which stocks more “gourmet” lines including lobster and kangaroo.

The grocer is actively seeking units of around 9,000-10,000 sq ft – around double the size of an average Iceland store – in out-of-town locations to grow the Food Warehouse portfolio after boss Malcolm Walker admitted in June that it would become the retailer’s “main focus for store growth”.

Thirteen of the 57 Brantano stores up for grabs fall into that bracket, but Retail Week understands that Iceland would only be interested in taking on “two or three” of the branches.

Carpetright and Pets at Home are also looking at the list of stores for possible acquisitions, Retail Week understands.

Brantano collapsed into administration last month as administrator PwC said it had been “hit hard by the change in consumers’ shopping habits and the evolution of the UK retail environment”.

Retail property consultant GCW, which is marketing the stores, declined to comment.