B&M Bargains buys 11 Focus Stores

Lancashire-based variety retailer B&M has reached an agreement to buy 11 stores from failed home & DIY business Focus DIY, saving 211 jobs in the process.

Focus DIY collapsed earlier this month and administrators at Ernst & Young (E&Y) have been offloading parts of the company’s property portfolio ever since.

B&Q owner Kingfisher and market rival Wickes have purchasing 31 and 13 stores respectively, helping prevent hundreds of job losses and boosting the market share of these two companies.

Home & DIY is a slow growth, highly competitive market, and it was perhaps no surprise that Focus DIY failed because trading levels have been declining at the retailer for some time.

There are still over 100 of its stores to offload though, with companies such as home and garden product specialist The Range already having shown an interest in completing deals for the right price.

Commenting on the B&M deal, Joint Administrator at E&Y Simon Allport said: “We are delighted to have completed another sale of Focus stores, securing a further 211 of jobs.”

B&M Bargains already runs over 230 stores across Great Britain and employs more than 7,000 staff.

Source : Retail Gazette
www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/14004-focus-diy-sells-11-stores-to-bm