HARVEY NORMAN
Once the site had been secured, Mr Roach said the retailer received a lot of positive comments from the people of Sutton Coalfield. “People really wanted to see what we’re all about, so we hit the accelerator,” Mr Roach said. “We took over three weeks off the standard build time, making Sutton Coldfield the fastest build Harvey Norman has ever done over multiple floors, across its 318 stores, several of which are double-storey. “Our contractors, Gloucestershire-based
Barnwoods, put in some really big shifts. They got in early, went home late, did seven days a week, and our teams did the same.” To create the 52,000sq ft Sutton Coldfield
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store, Mr Roach has taken elements from both Australia and Croatia. “Our flagship store in Australia, Auburn, consists of two storeys, and it has a beautiful atrium, not dissimilar to the one in Sutton Coldfield, also it’s also not dissimilar to the skylight in one of our brand-new stores in Croatia,” Mr Roach said.
Harvey Norman UK recently opened its second store in the West Midlands, in Sutton Coldfield, 14 months after it opened in Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley. Simon King reports
H
arvey Norman is on target to have five UK mainland stores open by mid-2028, according to Lachlan Roach, Managing Director of Harvey Norman UK.
Mr Roach, who has worked for Harvey Norman for 24 years, told ERT that the business had been looking for a site in Sutton Coldfield for the last four years.
Working with suppliers For the Sutton Coldfield store, just like it did with the Merry Hill store, Harvey Norman worked with its supplier partners to make integrated appliances look cool. “We’ve got seven or eight manufacturers that are presenting leading designs so customers can get a better idea as to what it’s going to look like in their home, and also it creates a bit more atmosphere in a traditionally boring category, like integrated fridges,” Mr Roach said.
“If you want a £19 kettle, I’ve got them; if you want one of the cool Smeg Porsche kettles for £299, I’ve got those as well. If you want a front- load washer for £199 great, I’ve got a Candy machine up there that’ll do it, or if you want the latest from Miele for £2,000, I’ve got that as well.”
New stores
Mr Roach said that the retailer is involved in deals that are getting closer to becoming a reality on a couple more sites. “It’s widely documented that we think five is a good number in the West Midlands, and there’s a couple of markets in the West Midlands, one in particular, that we really want to get to, but we’d love to be there,” Mr Roach said.
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