Tapi acquires (quarter of) Carpetright, fate of stores abroad unsure

The deal is done: Tapi has acquired the British branch of its rival Carpetright. However, more than three quarters of the British stores will have to close. The foreign shops are not involved in the deal, their fate is unclear.

No solutions

Tapi, the brainchild of the son of Carpetright founder Philip Harris, takes over 54 shops in the United Kingdom, the BBC reports. The brand rights of the carpet giant would also transfer to the new owner. However, for 218 shops, and more than a thousand employees, the deal offers no solutions at all.

Foreign stores (including those in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands) are also not part of the deal. It is unclear whether they can survive on their own, without the scale of the British mother ship. No one was available for questions from the RetailDetail editorial team.

Competition and crises

The retailer has been in bad shape for quite some time, partly because of fierce competition – ironically also from the Tapi chain founded by the family of former CEO Harris. Incidentally, one of the reasons Tapi is having to close so many shops appears to be that the chain focused its aggressive expansion policy on the immediate vicinity of Carpetright shops, Retailgazette reports.

That competition, and the succession of economic crises, caused sales to fall by 45 % to 200 million pounds, The Guardian adds. A severe cyber attack in April seems to have dealt the final blow.