Mountain Warehouse sales surged to a record high of £386m in its year to February 25, as the outdoor retailer goes on a store opening spree, including its first outposts in Australia.
The outdoor clothing specialist bounced back into the black over the year, making a £26.2m pre-tax profit, compared with a £1.5m loss the prior year when it was hit by incremental Covid-19 costs.
CEO Mark Neale put its strong performance down to shoppers flocking back to the high street post-pandemic and to capitalise on this, it opened 28 stores over the year, and 20 more since the year end.
Store sales climbed 7.1% over the last year, helped by the new stores.
Neale said: “During Covid a lot of people were claiming nobody was ever going to visit stores again and their days were numbered. We never believed that, and it has proved to be wide of the mark.”
“Whilst our online business had a big boost during the pandemic, we kept investing in stores and their success shows customers relish choice and the opportunity to shop how and when they want.”
The new stores included 21 in the UK where it more than doubled the size of its Covent Garden branch and took on the ex-Wilko site in Cornwall, as well as eight international shops, including its first in Brisbane Australia.
It has already secured more Australian sites in Melbourne, which will open before the end of October. The retailer already has a strong business in neighbouring New Zealand, with 24 stores opened over the past six years.
Neale said: “The first customer we served in Brisbane was buying a jacket for a coach tour around Scotland. The next one needed gear for a trek up Mount Fuji. Australians love the outdoors, they love to travel and explore, and we’re hoping that they will soon love Mountain Warehouse as well.”
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Mountain Warehouse plans to open up to 50 more branches and relocations globally in its current financial year.
In the UK, it is opted to open much larger stores, including some in retail parks, such as Bedford Retail Park, Maybird Retail Park in Stratford-upon-Avon, Malvern Shopping Park and Tunbridge Wells Shopping Park.
The larger stores mean the retailer can stock a wider product range, including sections devoted to ski wear and the Animal brand, which it acquired three years ago and has started to open stand-alone stores for. It will soon have six Animal stores.
Neale said acquiring Animal had helped it “reach many new customers”.
Online sales at Mountain Warehouse edged up 2.2%, and now accounts for almost a third of revenue – up from just under a quarter pre-pandemic – helped by the success of its marketplace offer.
Mountain Warehouse Marketplace, where third-party sellers can list their products on its website, launched in 2022 and now has more than 320 brands. Marketplace sales jumped more than 150% year on year.
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