Direct Furniture settles into new home in Bury St Edmunds

Direct Furniture, the family-run outlet store, has been settling into its new building on The Bartons retail park in Bury St Edmunds.

The store, which sells furniture, homeware and gifts, moved to Barton Road from its original Osier Road premises at the end of January.

They were demolished for redevelopment.

The new building has been refurbished and provides 12,500sqft of air-conditioned retail space.

The company was established in 2002 by John Carter who decided to open an outlet store offering higher-end brands with good discounts from the main retail outlets.

His son Jonathan, a director of the company, said the business had survived the challenges facing retail and the high street by ensuring a trim and efficient operation.

“We grew every year in the last recession as we ran the business as efficiently as we could. Growth isn’t easy at the moment but we are constantly out there finding new customers and searching for other companies to deal with. We keep things as trim and efficient as possible.”

He added: “Because it is an outlet store we have a lot of different items coming through. We have a huge turnover and sometimes the items virtually go before they get through the door.”

Mr Carter added that the store’s discount offer attracted customers from a wide are,a with some driving 40-plus miles to visit the Bury store.

The store sells on items from big- name retailers which are either end- of-line, returned products or are no longer wanted by companies which don’t always have adequate storage space.

It will deliver nationwide and also has an online presence.

Furniture Direct has a large turnover of products and, as well as selling outlet items from the big names, also buys in products itself.

Mr Carter added that the new building, which provides enough space under one roof to accommodate that from the three previous buildings in Osier Road, offers a better layout for staff and customers.

The company also plans to refresh its offering at the new site over the next 18 months.

You can email the store at sales@directfurnitureoutlet.co.uk or phone 01284 752086.