Store History - Mark Chandler

In 1960 my Grandparents decided to open their own furniture business, they sold their family home and took out a mortgage on a shop and flat in a newly built parade in Ash Vale. The parade of shops was still in its final stages of building and on the day that the family moved in there was no shop window and to get to the door you had to balance on a plank over a muddy building site. The furniture and carpet shop once opened, sold goods from mainly British suppliers, a prominent feature in the store was a giant union jack flag made from carpet.

The business struggled to establish itself in its early years which proved for challenging times in the family flat, situated just above the shop. At the age of 16 my father joined my grandparents to help run the shop. My father's eye for retail soon shone through and the business started to grow. After a few years business improved and we started to expand, we bought the shop next door and doubled the size of the showroom and after a few more years the flats upstairs were also converted too.

In the December of 1993 we opened the store we are currently in, it was a big jump from 5,000 to 20,000sqft and moved us from the parade where we first started into a purpose built showroom on the other side of the village.

In September 2009 my grandmother opened our latest extension, a 4,000sqft area dedicated to modern and contemporary furniture. Now at 36,000sqft of showroom we have one of the biggest furniture offerings in the south of England with famous furniture brands from around the world.

We are proud to say that our family values have remained the same over the years that we have been in Ash Vale and that we intend to be here for many years to come.