Sofology was founded in 1974 and was previously known as CS Lounge Suites Ltd, Clayton Salerooms, CSL and Sofaworks. The company began as a store chain for the high street and sold its items. The North West England-founded sofa retailer was an auction room company that started its life as CSL Sofas. Around 1982, the company turned to retailing specialist sofa and manufacturing. By 2002, selling its own manufactured furniture was not making sense. Since furniture retail could source products at a more cost-effective price from the Far East, Eastern Europe, and Europe, it ceased to operate its sofa manufacturing in the United Kingdom. The furniture retailer focuses primarily on leather, recliners, corner, and fabric sofas. Across the UK, Sofology continues expanding its store list in various high-profile retail parks.

The trouble with the Sofaworks brand name

At the beginning of 2016, Sofology replaced “Sofaworks” as the new name in a rebranding move after losing a court case where it had been demonstrated in court that Sofaworks was another company’s brand name. DFS, a rival, brought the case to court before the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. The argument was that Sofology, then named Sofaworks, conflicted with Sofa Workshop, a DFS brand that had been around since 1985. The rebranding by Sofaworks was done in December 2013 from CSL, a name it had acquired in 1996, although registered in September 2013 as a trademark.

Big TV ads

Sofology hasn’t held back in TV advertising and has expanded geographically on television. Their apparent turn to mostly music-based commercials is one of a kind. Around 2010 in December, there were about 260 complaints levelled against them to the UK Advertising Standards Authority after one of Sofology’s adverts remaking Duran Duran’s Girls on Film featured women scantily dressed on Sofology’s specialist sofas. Despite the criticism, the complaints were allowed to continue by the authority.

One of the iconic traits of a Sofology location is the number of employees, who are usually more than 1000 every given time in each location, even in Golborne, where the sofa retail is headquartered. All the Sofology service technicians and deliveries are operated in-house, with the head office also holding the company’s training centre. Around 2011, Sofology had 40 vehicles with a capacity of 7.3 tonnes, including 20 expert technicians.

Distribution

Sofology has five main centres of distribution that cover all the stores under its domain. The largest is over 28,000 metres squared or 300,000 square feet at its headquarters in Golborne. Others include South Yorkshire’s 60,000 square feet distribution centre and North East’s Seaham’s 40,000 square feet distribution centre. In 2011, another warehouse of 30,000 square feet was launched, while another opened in 2014, the most recent in Bathgate.

Sofology opened a new shop in Dundee, Scotland, around the Kingsway West Retail Park in May 2015. The Dundee shop is spread over two floors for a 20,000 square feet space, featuring brickwork and widespread complete height glazing. With the entry of the new shop, Sofology complemented the Edinburgh and Paisley stores to spread the company’s presence in Scotland.

To enhance its business operations and the customer experience in August 2016, Sofology signed a £1 million deal to see Mentronet UK providing network services across 33 different Sofology locations throughout the UK. The agreement includes giving fibre and wireless connectivity in Sofology’s headquarters location Golborne, just outside Wigan. The idea is to revolutionise in-store customer experience in the different stores through a reliable and robust web connection in the furniture company’s headquarters and its other stores.

Capital injection

In May 2016, Sofology secured a capital investment for growth to the tune of £10 million from BGF (Business Growth Fund). The furniture company is expected to use the capital injection to accelerate its various expansion goals across the United Kingdom. With 33 retail stores throughout the UK, with stores opening in four different areas from Cannock, Dundee, and Enfield to Preston in one year, the Manchester headquartered furniture retail is expected to keep expanding under chief executive Jason Tyldesley.

This comes after Sofology generated £102 million in sales in 2014 and £143 million in 2015. The funds were expected to help the management in its retail outlet’s rollout nationwide and expand the company’s delivery fleet. Sofology was also working towards enhancing its online presence by developing a new web platform, including a new app and website refresh, towards giving online buyers a flawless customer experience and seamless online ordering.

Upped yearly sales

Sofology has seen its revenues increase by 40 percent in its latest report. In the 2015 financial year, the sales reported included £142.9 million, compared to 2014’s £102 million. The sofa retailer’s single-digit growth rate continues in 2016 and could be jolted with the rollout of Sofology’s new online platform.