British furniture retailer Made.com is failing as consumers squeeze | So Good News

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – British online furniture retailer Made.com ( MADE.L ) said it will appoint administrators after it ran out of cash, becoming one of the first retailers to fail due to a squeeze on real estate. a year.

Made.com’s rapid decline – it floated less than 18 months ago with a valuation of 775 million pounds ($894 million) – is a warning to retailers across Britain, as consumers cut back on discretionary spending in the face of rising energy bills, house prices. and food prices.

The group said on Tuesday it wanted to appoint an administrator after negotiations to find a buyer after the failure. It had already suspended customer orders last week.

The online retailer grew during the pandemic when shoppers living in closed homes spent money on sofas, coffee tables, lamps and other items they sold, and listed in London in June 2021.

But this year, Britain’s economy has slumped, and retailers across the country are bracing for tough times ahead.

Half of Britons plan to spend less on Christmas this year, according to market researcher Kantar, after resuming spending last month with confidence near a record low in the face of 10% inflation and political turmoil.

Made.com warned in October that it was struggling with network problems and rising costs. One of the co-founders last week criticized the group’s management for investing too much in the downgraded shares, according to a report in The Times.

Made.com said its shares have been suspended from trading and will soon be liquidated. Any sale of a product, product or company brand will be conducted by the management at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

($1 = 0.8666 pounds)

Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Sarah Young in London; Edited by Rashmi Aich

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