James Whiteley started working in the garden furniture industry at just 16 after leaving school, stuffing cushions at his father’s company. With the rise of the internet in the late 1990s, James quickly understood the far-reaching possibilities of ecommerce and how selling garden furniture and accessories would be changed by the revolution of online shopping.
From a business operating out of his bedroom in 2005, James created the first White Stores website, initially focusing on garden cushion sales. White Stores is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and has a product range in excess of 4000 items and a multi-million pound annual turnover. The retailer offers an extensive range of metal, wood and rattan garden furniture – including chairs, sofas, tables, dining sets, daybeds, cushions and covers – plus outdoor decorations and accessories.
“Last year was a breakthrough year for White Stores, when we increased our turnover by an amazing 131.5% from the previous year. We are a force to be reckoned with, and with the ambitious changes myself and the rest of the team have been making, we’re hoping to double our turnover again this year,” says James.
“We are passionate about outdoor living and love what we do at White Stores, and always strive to provide a fantastic shopping experience for every one of our customers. We have an 8000ft² showroom at our headquarters in Wickford, which gives our online customers an opportunity to see, feel and try out our products before they buy. This innovative ‘bricks ‘n’ clicks’ approach benefits our customers, products and company.”
In an effort to provide its customers with the best service possible, White Stores has increased its warehousing space so that it can offer shorter lead times and quicker deliveries. To accommodate the 200 containers’- worth of stock imported each year, the retailer has created an impressive 50,000ft² warehousing infrastructure in Wickford and Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, affording customers with a wider choice of product and a guaranteed delivery date.
“Our white-glove delivery service really does make us stand out from the crowd. This year we have started offering an optional delivery, assembly and packaging removal service, meaning that we can take care of everything and our customers can enjoy their new garden furniture effortlessly and quicker than ever before. This is a unique service that was asked for by our customers, but isn’t offered by our garden furniture retail competitors,” James explains.
2015 has been an important year so far for White Stores, with the introduction of new retail concessions within garden centres around the UK, the first of which opened in Yarnton, Oxfordshire in March. The retailer plans to continue to launch more concessions throughout the country so as to provide its online customers with more opportunities to view the products they are looking to purchase.
However, like any other business operating in today’s challenging and unpredictable economic climate, White Stores’ progression and success has not been without its fair share of difficulties. 2011 was the retailer’s ‘annus horribilis’, bringing with it a cold and wet summer and a shift in Google’s approach to ranking websites.
“One day in April 2011, White Stores went from the top of page one to nowhere to be seen in the search results of online shoppers. It was purely by hard work, personal sacrifice and shrewd business savvy that White Stores was saved from the brink of bankruptcy. A difficult lesson for sure, but one that I feel was necessary to make myself a better businessman – and White Stores a better company,” states James.
Optimistic for the future, James’ aspirations for the company are ambitious but realistic. More warehousing space and staff to cope with recent increases in sales are on the horizon, as well as a wider choice of product. In addition, designing, manufacturing, distributing and selling its own range of garden furniture and accessories looks to be the next logical step forward for White Stores.
“My ultimate ambition is for White Stores to grow and become a nationwide brand,” James adds. “Over the next five years I would like White Stores to cement its position as the UK’s leading multi-channel outdoor living retailer by having over 30 national garden centre concessions, attending all the UK national gardening shows, and offering the widest and best-priced range of outdoor living products on the internet.”
