Like a phoenix, Made.com is reborn from its ashes. On November 27, on its Instagram account, the brand posted a video to announce the opening of a new 370 m2 store in the Meadowhall shopping center in Sheffield, England. In photos from Retail Gazette , the store is sleek, with items that made Made.com famous: colorful velvet sofas and elegantly designed tables.
The brand ensures that its customers can receive delivery the next day or carry out a “click and collect” to collect their furniture. Online, its references are displayed with a price in pounds, and are, for the moment, reserved for English customers. If new products are arriving next month, Made.com will also offer new items in fall 2024 with small decoration, rugs, cushions or mirrors.
A few months ago, this transformation seemed unthinkable for Made.com. The brand was placed in compulsory liquidation last November due in particular to problems in supply chains, long delivery times and a crisis in purchasing power which turned customers away from its products. The company, listed on the stock exchange and valued at 775 million pounds, then experienced a sudden reversal of fortune.
Made.com thus found itself unable to deliver its furniture, leaving thousands of customers in the lurch. Founded in 2010, the company sold its products in the United Kingdom, but also in Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and France. When its bankruptcy was announced, some of the references were bought by the Noz brand, which resold them in its stores.
The intellectual property of the brand and its domain names were finally bought in November 2022 by the clothing store chain Next, at a knockdown price, for 3.4 million pounds. Around 400 employees were then laid off. It remains to be seen what Next’s strategy will be to extend its acquisition beyond the borders of the United Kingdom.
