HOUSING UNITS ADDS ANOTHER TROPHY TO ITS RANGE OF CABINETS

HOUSING UNITS

PRESS RELEASE

October 20, 2011.

HOUSING UNITS ADDS ANOTHER TROPHY TO ITS RANGE OF CABINETS.

Photo available.

When the going gets tough, the tough win awards - and north Manchester-based home furnishings store Housing Units has added another trophy to its wide range of cabinets.

Housing Units has won the "Best department store" title in the Progressive Housewares magazine "Excellence in housewares" category after beating off competition almost entirely from affluent south-east England department stores.

"It costs nothing to go that extra inch in driving customer service standards, listening hard to what our customers want, moving heaven and earth to deliver the right sorts of promotions and events, and simply looking and feeling like a place where shoppers feel at home. But it costs a lot if you don't," said Nick Fox, director of Housing Units.

"The competition was tough - and the other nominees were very, very good - but we give our all day-in, day-out, and it pays off not just for us, but for our customers too.

"But it's a spiral: put in the effort, get the custom; get the custom, win the award, feel good, make the customer feel good - get the custom. And this is all massively down to the Housing Units staff -  we're certainly a family business, and when things get tough, we all feel the pain but we all then pull together; and the result is that we all win together".

The criteria for the award was: "Should be an individual department store or a specific branch of a department store chain. With excellence in areas across the retail spectrum including product range, staff training, customer care, marketing and promotion, window and product display and also have improvement achievement in improving sales, profitability and/or footfall over the last year."

"And with somebody else influential and expert saying something about us - it's a great accolade to hear," said Nick Fox.

Housing Units - known for its top-hatted doormen - was established in 1947.

It is a family-owned furnishings retailer based in Wickentree Lane, Failsworth, Manchester M35 9BA, next to Junction 22 of the M60. It stocks 30,000 high-quality lines across a range of departments in two buildings and a crescent of specialist shops, and prides itself on its unique style of customer service, the value of its goods and the shopping experience it provides.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

0161 929 0446/07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.housingunits.co.uk

TV HOME DESIGN AND LIFESTYLE SHOWS? MORE PLEASE – THEY’RE BOOSTING OUR ECONOMY, SAY HOUSING UNITS

HOUSING UNITS

PRESS RELEASE

October 11, 2011.

TV HOME DESIGN AND LIFESTYLE SHOWS? MORE PLEASE – THEY’RE BOOSTING OUR ECONOMY, SAY HOUSING UNITS.

They may seem to be wall-to-wall on TV, but the overwhelming current crop of home design and lifestyle shows are doing massive favours for the UK furnishings and interiors industry.

Nick Fox, director of north Manchester-based furnishings store Housing Units, says that regardless of how tacky, tear-jerking or turgid the home design programmes are, they are inspiring homeowners into spending on changes or improvements.

“Customers will come in to the store sometimes completely undecided about what they want, but will simply refer to a TV home design or lifestyle show and say they want something the same or just like what they saw,” said Nick.

“This is where we have an advantage in that we have in-house designers who overdose on these programmes so know exactly what most customers are talking about.

“The trend is to buy complete makeovers for entire rooms – and customers are specifying not just UK-style design, but design and furnishings they have seen on travel programmes, or home-search shows abroad.

“It is genuinely creating a new niche of demand, and there is a very definite drive towards Italian-inspired interior design.”

Housing Units – known for its top-hatted doormen - was established in 1947. It is a family-owned furnishings retailer based in Wickentree Lane, Failsworth, Manchester M35 9BA, next to Junction 22 of the M60. It stocks 30,000 high-quality lines across a range of departments in two buildings and a crescent of specialist shops, and prides itself on its unique style of customer service, the value of its goods and the shopping experience it provides.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

0161 929 0446/07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.housingunits.co.uk

SPIELBERG PROTÉGÉ’S “HOUSING UNITS-2: THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL”.

HOUSING UNITS

PRESS RELEASE

April 13, 2011.

SPIELBERG PROTÉGÉ’S “HOUSING UNITS-2: THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL”.

Nick Fox video.

Phil Hawkins video (1) (2) (3) (4)

Paul Barnes video (1) (2)

Photos

TV ad.

Manchester-born film director Phil Hawkins, one of Steven Spielberg’s tips for movie greatness, has returned to Failsworth to direct a second work for leading retailer Housing Units.

Phil has teamed up with Manchester-based AIR Creative to produce Housing Units’ first-ever 60-second TV ad, which features the voice of actor Sean Pertwee.

It has been shot entirely on location at the store’s north Manchester retail park – and steers well clear of the sector-dominant sofas-wardrobes-and-beds style production. That it was also filmed on a hand-held camera highlights the natural and relaxed tone.

Phil, an award-winning former Manchester Xaverian College student, has been named as one of the young movie makers who most caught the legend’s eye.

And the people who caught Phil’s eye were the cast of the new ad: virtually everybody starring in the ad either works at Housing Units, or is related to Housing Units staff.

The challenge facing the team was to showcase Housing Units’ massive product range, plus the overall scale of Housing Units’ vast array of departments, without making it look like a living catalogue, but, crucially, to get over the key point that it’s all about personal service in the family-run and orientated store.

“The sequel is always going to be tough, and we thought that 60 seconds would make it easier – but it didn’t: using the staff, and featuring some of the new retail units and departments means this ad has no option but to be packed with people and action,” said Nick Fox of Housing Units (video).

“It’s not a list of products, it’s about the lifestyle customers enjoy, and the way the staff operate and interface with those customers.”

Paul Barnes, Managing Director of AIR Creative, said: “It just isn’t possible to convey the full scale of Housing Units’ offering in 30 seconds. (video)

  

“We needed some way of getting all of that across – the range, quality of service, attention to detail - and establishing a bigger picture in customers’ minds.  Housing Units is not just somewhere else that sells sofas. 

“The store is genuinely unique and enjoys real loyalty from its customers, so we wanted to tap into the goodwill that the brand already has, and convey that to a wider audience.  But, above all, we want people to make an emotional connection with the store.”     

Housing Units – known for its top-hatted doormen - was established in 1947. It is a family-owned furnishings retailer based in Wickentree Lane, Failsworth, Manchester M35 9BA, next to Junction 22 of the M60. It stocks 30,000 high-quality lines across a range of departments in two buildings and a crescent of specialist shops, and prides itself on its unique style of customer service, the value of its goods and the shopping experience it provides.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

0161 929 0446/07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.housingunits.co.uk

TIME AND DISTANCE – THE FURNISHINGS AND INTERIORS TRENDS FOR 2011.

HOUSING UNITS

PRESS RELEASE

February 23, 2011.

TIME AND DISTANCE – THE FURNISHINGS AND INTERIORS TRENDS FOR 2011.

Photos here.

Spring and summer 2011 interior design trends will travel through time and distance according to the buying teams at one of the north west’s most influential home furnishings stores.

Designers and department heads at Housing Units know exactly where the horizons will be when homeowners home-in on their house style for this year.

“Outdoor will be particularly notable this year – designers across the board seem to be homing in on mixing cultures and heritage; this trend will use traditional craft and hand-drawn imagery inspired by a vast range of countries and cultures,” said Nick Fox of north Manchester-based Housing Units.

“We’re seeing a mix of African, Russian, Scandinavian and Indian influences across fabrics, metal work and ceramics. This includes well crafted pieces of furniture, while adding embroidered or patterned textiles for understated warmth, and tables will be dressed in hot summer colours – oranges, reds and pinks.

“At Housing Units we’re referring to it as ‘Folkloric’.

“Spring will be big in the house and home this year, where flowers, fabrics and homewares will be in a broad range of yellows and soft greens including khaki, moss and olive shades.

“There’ll also be white lacquer pieces and white porcelain, a look to bring brightness to the home. It’ll all be complemented with rattan garden furniture and natural wood furniture, a theme we’re calling ‘So Fresh’.

“Interiors are going to travel back in time perhaps more distinctly than ever before, with a clear 50s influence. Faded red, jade green and harvest gold are the key colours for this trend. Retro prints and mid–20^th century furniture shapes and styles are a prominent theme.

“But we’re also looking at a ‘Granny Chic’ trend, which will take a fresh direction this spring with contemporary graphics, updates on florals, crochet, china and all things quintessentially British and homespun.

“The main theme is of flowers on tableware, cushions in teal, maroon and muted gold and a real mix of nostalgic flowery wallpapers.

“Chalky Pastels will remain big in 2011 as they were in 2010, with dusty pink, mint green and pale blue becoming a key palette for spring/summer 2011.  Subtle hints of colours will be added to tableware and hard accessories, and the colour palette is combined with matt finishes. “

Housing Units – known for its top-hatted doormen - was established in 1947. It is a family-owned furnishings retailer based in Wickentree Lane, Failsworth, Manchester M35 9BA, next to Junction 22 of the M60. It stocks 30,000 high-quality lines across a range of departments in two buildings and prides itself on its unique style of customer service, the value of its goods and the shopping experience it provides.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

0161 929 0446/07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.housingunits.co.uk