Australian homewares retailer House plots UK launch

Australian homewares specialist House is plotting an assault on the UK market, Retail Week can reveal.
House, which is owned by Global Retail Brands, has thrown down the gauntlet to the likes of Lakeland and John Lewis with plans to open 75 stores within the next three years.
It aims to open its first tranche of shops by April 2018 and will also launch a transactional ecommerce platform after identifying the UK as its preferred market to kick-start an overseas push.
House, which has 104 stores in its native Australia, describes itself as a kitchen, cooking, dining and entertaining specialist.
The retailer’s stores typically carry 4,000 core SKUs including cookware, glassware, small electrical appliances, knives and crockery.

Its Australian website sells an additional 8,000 lines, including products in the bathroom, bedroom, décor and pet categories.
House said its stores aim to “inspire customers to cook and create and entertain at home,” with service and customer interaction forming a key part of its proposition.
It gives all new store managers and assistant store managers AUS$8,000 of products for them to use at home so that they “know the product backwards” and can have “passionate” and personalised discussions with shoppers.