Dunelm has snapped up Irish soft furnishings retailer Home Focus at Hickeys.
Home Focus, which trades from 13 stores across the Republic of Ireland and trades online, will allow Dunelm to enter the country, which it said had a homewares market of more than £1bn.
Home Focus trades from smaller stores than Dunelm, with branches typically measuring less than 10,000 sq ft.
Dunelm, which revealed last month that sales had nudge up during its first quarter, said it saw potential to offer customers a broader range of products in Home Focus stores, in line with its existing smaller format stores in the UK.
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The homewares retailer also plans to introduce a more comprehensive online proposition to Home Focus, and will assess new store opportunities across Ireland over time.
Dunelm CEO Nick Wilkinson said: “In Home Focus we have found a high-quality and complementary business, with a shared heritage in home textiles and strong values which stem from family ownership.
“We’ve really enjoyed getting to know the team and look forward to welcoming them to the Dunelm family as we work together to further develop and invest in their specialist home proposition.”
He continued: “We see a clear opportunity to introduce more choice and value into the offer which Home Focus has built for its customers.
“With an established national store footprint and expertise in mutual growth areas like made to measure, we’re confident that Home Focus will help us to continue unlocking our full potential.”
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