Industry | 2010.03.19
DSG to expand Currys megastore chain
Currys and PC World owner to open 25 more giant stores in UK after strong demand from consumers
Currys owner DSG today announced it plans to build another 25 electricals megastores in Britain in response to strong demand from consumers.
The company which also owns PC World, announced this morning that it would open the new Currys megastores in time for the crucial pre-Christmas trading period. It said the format had performed better than expected and had now identified a total of 70 potential sites for new stores.
There are currently eight megastores in operation, so today\'s pledge would take the UK total to 33. DSG also plans to open 60 more "two-in-one" sites which combine products from both PC World and Currys.
DSG opened its first Currys Megastore in October 2008, near Birmingham at Junction 9 of the M6. Tens of thousands of consumers swamped the 55,000 sq ft outlet when it opened. They spent £2.3m in the first four days and cut-price offers sparked clashes between shoppers .
DSG was hit by the fall in consumer spending when the UK entered recession . But today it told the City that gross profits at its new-format stores, which set aside dedicated areas for hi-tech names such as Apple and Sony, were up by an average of 20%.
DSG chief executive John Browett has been shaking up its stores and improving staff training as part of his push to revive the company\'s fortunes since he joined it in December 2007.
"The renewal and transformation plan is making significant changes to the group and we have started to see the benefits of this work. The new store formats are popular with customers, particularly the megastores and the combined two-in-one stores," said Browett.
Shares in the company rose by more than 3% this morning to 35.8p.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/19/currys-megastores-expansion
