Land of Leather reaps benefits of advertising blitz
Sofa retailer Land of Leather today reported solid trading in its key January sales period after it opened five new stores on St Stephen's Day and bolstered its marketing campaign.
The firm, which has four stores in the Republic, five in the North and 72 in the UK, timed the new openings for maximum impact and opted for a more extensive television campaign than in previous years.
These tactics helped it to log 28.5% more orders between October 2 and January 29 – or a 5.5% rise on a like-for-like basis. In its financial year since April 4, orders increased by 29.9%.
Chief executive Paul Briant said: “The January sales period is a key trading time for upholstery retailers. I am delighted that our developments have resulted in a solid sales performance in a more challenging trading environment.”
In the run-up to the post-Christmas rush for bargains, Land of Leather ran its biggest television advert campaign in recent years.
The firm also introduced 29 new products just for the sales period and promoted “combination deals” where customers buy two sofas and have a choice of extras like lamps and rugs – all for £999 (€1,500).
Chief financial officer Clive Hatchard was not surprised the company had achieved positive results against a difficult trading background because of the measures Land of Leather had taken to keep prices down.
Compared with 2003 when the company sourced 25% of its products from the Far East, it now gets 85% to 95% of its products from the region and China in particular to keep costs down.
Land of Leather has expanded from three stores in 1997 to 72 now and there are plans to open 10 every year for the next six years in the UK. Openings in Derby, Enfield, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Leicester are scheduled for this spring.
Mr Hatchard said: “We target the mass, value-end of the market. When people feel the pinch, they look for value for money and we can offer that, plus as we are growing in size, we are more accessible than many of our rivals.”
