Stollers furniture store in Barrow - plans for the future

Issiah gradually grew his business to sell a wider range of goods and open a store on the town’s Dalton Road in the 1920s, as well as in Millom and Ulverston.

Over the last 124 years Stollers has become one of Barrow’s most well-established businesses, with Issiah’s son Phil and then Phil’s nephew David taking over the reins.

The company now employs 80 people and is one of the largest independent furniture stores in the UK, selling items for every room in the house, as well as the garden, and including 40 bedroom collections and 50 dining ranges.

Today the fourth-generation family business is run by Issiah’s great-grandson Lee Stoller, with his daughters Didi and Eden also playing their part in the company, alongside wife Catherine.

Lee, 47, joined the business at age 15 when his father David was at the helm and the business was still based on Dalton Road.

It moved to a 35,000 square foot purpose built showroom and store on Walney Road in 1994, although the branches at Ulverston and Millom closed in the following years.

In 2004 a 22,000 square foot extension was added to the site, with its cafe and restaurant also expanding.

Over the last eight years refitting of the shop has continued and the restaurant now has capacity for 130 people. At the time of writing work was almost complete on a new storefront.

"We've been developing the whole look of the business, the product ranges, the styling," says Lee, who began in the warehouse before joining the sales team and gradually working his way up to be managing director.

"We've got people who come to us now from all over the country to see a very interesting furniture offer, backed up by the full lighting department and accessories,” he says.

“We have really developed the business over many, many years but over the last seven or eight years it's become a brand spanking new business again.

"We don't offer a full interior design service, but we have got such a huge product range and salespeople who are engaged with the product and can give that advice.”

Lee says this approach has helped the business - which makes only five per cent of its sales online - stay competitive against a growing number of web-based retailers.

"For bricks and mortar retail to survive I do believe it has to be interesting and it has to be an experience for the customer," he says.

"You have to have an experience walking through the shop, which brings a different angle to looking at furniture online. We are really presenting a very strong look.

"We don't take in any manufacturers' displays or display settings. We mix manufacturers’ looks together and the presentation of the furniture is a full look rather than just a product or a product line.”

Each area of the shop also has a different smell and sound. The industrial reclaimed furniture area resonates with bass, while the music in the contemporary section is much lighter. A variety of fragrance diffusers are also deployed with smells to match each area.

Plans for the business include further developing its current site to turn some of the storage area into more retail space.

Lee still works daily on the shopfloor advising customers, while Didi and Eden are now both involved in the future development of the business.

Didi joined Stollers two years ago after completing a business administration qualification at Kendal College and now has the job of director assistant.

Meanwhile, Eden, 22, studied graphic design at university and now puts her skills to use on Stollers’ visual assets such as brochures, adverts and point of sale materials, working alongside her mum Catherine who focuses on marketing.

Although he is officially retired David also helps out in the business a few days a week.

Despite its relatively remote location, Lee says the store attracts customers from across Cumbria but also Lancashire and Greater Manchester, all drawn by its individual offer of products and services.

He travels to trade shows across Europe and the Far East to find individual, high quality products to make the shop stand out compared to national retailers in large cities.

"Because we're in Barrow it doesn't mean that we have to hang on to the shirttails of somebody in Manchester or London," he says.

"What we do inside these four walls can be every bit as good as what goes on inside those big conurbations.”

As a business firmly based on bricks and mortar, Lee says the massive boom in online trading during the pandemic was definitely a concern.

However, once restrictions were lifted customers soon returned in high numbers.

"In the UK we have historically massively underspent on our home environment compared to our European counterparts," he says.

"As a nation we spend money on cars and holidays, and the home is considerably further down the list. I think the UK over the last two years has really done something to catch up to European people. I think people have really reflected on how they live. They want a little bit of comfort and a little bit of luxury every single day.”