Cost Plus Sofas opens new Athlone superstore

Cost Plus Sofas has recently opened a new superstore in Athlone's Arcadia Retail Park. It's the fifteenth sofa megastore to be opened by the company which specialises in offering Ireland's biggest selection of designer sofas at discount prices. The company, which established its first store in Mullingar in 2003, said it always intended to locate in Athlone. "Our first store opened in Mullingar and we have always been very pro-Westmeath. Athlone is a bigger town and we thought that they would work well together," according to Bruce Cohen, a consultant director with the company. Having just recently opened the doors on a substantial 6,500 sq ft superstore in the Arcadia Retail Park, Cost Plus Sofa is keen to expand and develop its staff numbers as it grows in Athlone. Currently customers are invited to pop into the new store, look around at their leisure, enter the free draw without obligation to purchase, meet David and Athlone resident Eileen and enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee and a very warm welcome! What's behind the ongoing growth and expansion of this retail furniture company at a time when so many of its longer established competitors in Ireland are contracting or collapsing?   Even with the tough economic climate, their sales and profits are growing substantially and two more Cost Plus stores are expected to open within the next few months. Already it has a presence in most of the major towns and cities nationwide, including three stores in Dublin and two in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. The company says it differentiates itself from its competitors by the speed of delivery it can offer on top selling lines. Back-up stocks are also available for immediate delivery from its central warehouses, and replenishments arrive as scheduled on its forward order plan.  It is currently delivering around 80% of all orders within fourteen days and a majority of those within seven days or less. All its products are purchased directly from the top international manufacturers and huge container ships arrive daily in Dublin with sofas destined for the company. Everything in the stores is single priced at a net discount price and it insists that these are genuine discount prices and not an example of what it calls "phoney" double pricing. Cost Plus aims to be the leading sofa discounter in the Irish market, selling designer sofas at discount prices, backed by a price and quality guarantee. ts lowest price guarantee covers anywhere in Ireland or the UK. It also has a quality guarantee covering everything they sell. Cost Plus operates an exceptionally low cost base, with low rents, all main services out-sourced overseas and minimum overheads generally, enabling it to cut prices on top quality sofas, sell at considerably reduced margins and yet still make a profit. Cost Plus has also recently launched its assault on the beds market via its new "Beds etc" specialist bedding shops and in-store departments. Here again it guarantees that its prices will always be 20% lower than any of its competitors. The company believes that its approach best meets the market conditions and points to the success of others such as Penneys, Aldi and Lidl as an example of how outstanding value for money is the key to successful business in the current economic climate.