During the latest financial year, the design store chain Bolia has doubled up on expansion of its concept stores and once again set a new sales record.
Bolia has strengthened its collection through a focus on design, quality, and sustainability which is reflected in the result for the financial year 2021/22 with a record-breaking turnover of DKK 1.3bn and a 12% growth in sales compared to the previous financial year.
“An important cornerstone to our sustainability strategy is to develop designs that can last and be enjoyed for generations. We have done so by slowing down our rotation of products and directing our focus towards a more timeless expression as well as by using certified quality materials and sustainable solutions throughout the entire design process. As an example, we develop furniture designs with removeable and washable covers as well as replaceable components which improves product durability and boosts customer satisfaction significantly,” says CEO of Bolia, Lars Lyse Hansen.
Bolia sells its collections via own concept stores and web shops in 30 European markets and during the latest year, expansion of the chain has doubled with a primary focus on the German, Dutch, and French markets.
“In the last year, we have strengthened our position in Germany significantly and it has grown to become the biggest market for our chain. Similarly, the French market has developed rapidly ever since we opened our first French concept store in Paris two years ago. Therefore, we have opened new stores in Nice, Marseille, Reims, Cannes, Lille, Paris, and Lyon as well – with more to come. During the latest financial year, we also opened our first store in Luxembourg, which is the largest Bolia-store in the chain. Like the other stores, it has enjoyed a warm reception and delivered great results,” Lars Lyse Hansen says.
Bolia also sells its collections through design retailers in more than 50 countries, both directly to consumers as well as to the professional market, and this part of the business has delivered great results with sales increasing by 28% compared to the previous year.
“Our B2B-sales have really picked up again this year due to our strengthened network of agencies and retailers as well as our new Professional Collection in collaboration with Steelcase,” Lars Lyse Hansen explains.
“Like many others we too have experienced the challenges caused by increasing prices on raw materials and difficulties of supply chains in the precious year. Because we produce all our furniture designs in Europe and exclusively use certified wood and top-quality materials, the price increases have been so extensive that we have decided not to pass the extra expenditures fully to the sales prices. Naturally, higher raw material and purchase prices combined with rapid expansion has affected our result, which amounts to DKK 50m in earnings before interest and tax as opposed to DKK 96m in the previous financial year.
“In the current financial year, as we all know, new market challenges are affecting consumer confidence negatively, but we are continuing at full speed with our expansion with new concept stores opening in the biggest cities in Europe. We are excited to open our first Spanish store in beautiful Barcelona and to open our first stores in Singapore and Australia in cooperation with Design Collection Denmark,” Lars Lyse Hansen concludes.
