Two young Altrincham entrepreneurs have started selling former Made.com stock at an average 20% discount as they continue to build their fast-growing sofa business.
Joseph Shenton and James Pullen, both 22, started Joseph James Furniture Outlet in Broadheath in 2019 and after opening a 20,000 sq ft showroom in Stretford last year, have hit £190,000 in monthly turnover.
The demise of online furniture retailer Made.com in November has also landed the pair with an unexpected opportunity after they were offered a large quantity of stock that had been boxed up ready to be sent to Made.com before it went into administration.
Joseph and James will now be adding the stock – a wide variety of Made.com sofas and chairs – into their Stretford showroom, close to Old Trafford football stadium. It will also be available to purchase from the Joseph James website.
“It’s stock that was never actually owned by Made.com but was made by the China-based manufacturer and boxed up ready to ship to them,” Joseph tells us.
Joseph said they would be selling the stock at an average discount of 20% compared to what they would have been priced at by Made.com.
“It’s all brand new in the original Made.com boxes,” says Joseph.
“There’s a wide range of sets – threes and twos, corners, lots of colours, mainly in fabric and velvet. It’s all very typical Made.com furniture.”
The new showroom has been a big success for the pair, who are about to sign a five-year lease extension and also plan on securing a further showroom in Stockport this summer.
Remarkably, Joseph has managed to run the business part-remotely while completing a degree course in applied mathematics at Florida Southern College, and spends much of his time in the Sunshine State.
James, meanwhile, has enjoyed an exciting year of his own outside of the showroom by welcoming his first child.
Joseph James Furniture Outlet, 770 Chester Road, Stretford, M32 0FF. The Made.com furniture is available here.
