The Range (retailer)

CDS (Superstores International) Limited

Industry	Retail
Founded	1989; 36 years ago (1989)[1]
Headquarters	Plymouth, United Kingdom
Key people	Chris Dawson (Chairman)
Products	Home, garden and leisure products
Owner	Norton Group Holdings
Number of employees	11,200
Subsidiaries	Homebase and Wilko
Website	www.therange.co.uk

The Range, Andover (2006)

The Range, Tulip Retail Park, Leeds (2007)

CDS (Superstores International) Limited, trading as The Range, is a British home, leisure and garden centre retailer, originally founded as Chris Dawson Superstores in 1989.

In the 1990s, the chain rebranded to 'The Range', and had expanded across the South West by the end of the decade. In the 2000s, it engaged in rapid nationwide expansion and became one of the UK's fastest growing retailers.^[2] As of 2023, The Range has 210 stores across the UK and Ireland.

In September 2023, it purchased the Wilko brand from administrators, maintaining its online presence, and began opening physical Wilko stores in December 2023.^[3] In November 2024, it purchased the Homebase brand and up to 70 stores from administrators, with plans to rebrand the acquired stores and maintain Homebase as an online-only retailer.^[4]

History

In 1980, Chris Dawson started business as an open-air market trader in Plymouth, South West England.^{[citation needed]}

His first physical retail store opened in 1989 at Sugar Mill Business Park on Billacombe Road, Plymouth, under the name "C.D.S. Superstores".^[1] This trading style continues to be displayed on external signs exclusively at this debut store only,^[5] as a nod to the heritage of the business.

The business was subsequently rebranded "The Range" in the early 1990s after further store openings.^{[citation needed]} "The Range" is the trading name of The Range Home & Gardens PLC.^[6]

Key people

Chris Dawson, the founder of the business, was chief executive officer between 1989 and 2017.^{[citation needed]}

Jersey based Sarah Dawson wholly owns the parent company's shares with her husband Chris Dawson listed as a person with significant control.^[7]

Chris Dawson was ranked fifth in Management Today's seventh annual survey of Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs.^{[citation needed]}

Store growth

The Range has expanded rapidly. In 2009, The Range was ranked 121st on The Sunday Times, PricewaterhouseCoopers Top Track, and 250 League Table of the United Kingdom's fastest growing companies.^{[citation needed]}

The business regularly announces new store openings in large tranches, for example in November 2013, it was announced that The Range planned to open 40 stores in the period of 2013 to 2016.^[8] New store openings such as the Swansea store^[9] regularly gain local press attention.

Many of the stores in Ireland are repurposed stores/retail warehouses that have been left by other brands including Woolworths, Tesco,^[10] Homebase and Atlantic Homecare^[11]

During 2016 and 2017, The Range opened stores in both Northern Ireland^[12] and the Republic of Ireland for the first time. Chris Dawson, the chain's billionaire owner has previously indicated he has European expansion plans, including 1,000 stores across Europe.^[13] The retailer currently operates a total of 211 stores, including a brand new^[when?] concept store in Derriford, Plymouth.^{[citation needed]}

The Range have also expanded e-commerce operations significantly in recent years. The business was recognised in 2017 as a leading multi-channel retailer in the Internet Retailing UK Top 250^[14] and the EU Top 350^[15] indices.

In November 2024, it was reported that The Range's parent company CDS was planning on buying up to 70 Homebase stores in a pre-pack sale alongside the brand and website, the transaction was completed the same day and all stores would be rebranded to The Range although in a concept store format selling more DIY and garden products.^[16][17]

Store formats & locations

The vast majority of stores are situated in out-of-town retail park locations, with some exceptions such as the four Greater London stores at Surrey Quays, Enfield, Romford and Watford. The Range also occupies some shopping centre locations such as the Redditch store.^[18] Various design iterations of the store branding and format have been used as the brand has evolved. Stores are geographically dispersed across all regions of the United Kingdom & the Republic of Ireland.

Many stores also include a "Dee Dee's", an own-brand coffee shop concept operated by Compass Group^[19] and found only within The Range stores. Newer, larger stores offer an Iceland food department (paid for at main tills),^[20] and the cafes in stores with Iceland are branded 'Iceland Cafe'.^[21] Some stores also host concessions such as rug cleaner hire or key cutting services.

In 2024, The Range rebranded some of the "Dee Dee's" coffee shops as Cafe Eighty-Nine.^[22]

Since CDS acquired Homebase in November 2024, The Range's garden centres would be rebranded to "Garden Centre by Homebase".^[23]

Distribution centres

The Range operates over 2,000,000 sq ft of distribution space, mostly from their facilities at Avonmouth, Bristol and Thorne, Doncaster.

The Avonmouth distribution centre has an area of over 1,250,000 sq ft^[24] and is the largest single footprint warehouse in the United Kingdom.^[25][26]

In Spring 2024, The Range will open a brand new distribution centre in Stowmarket, Suffolk, just off the A14 trunk road, with 1,170,000 sq ft of space for goods.[1] The road is directly on the route from the Port of Felixstowe to the Midlands and beyond.

The Thorne distribution centre has an area of over 750,000 sq ft.^[27]

The Range also has a distribution centre located in Normanton, Wakefield, and a Multichannel Fulfilment Centre in Rugby, Warwickshire.

The distribution centres are currently operated by DHL. Distribution is run by Gregory Distribution Group who supply drivers to use The Range’s fleet of vehicles on local work, and they also use their own vehicles for longer distance deliveries.

Head office

The Range Head Office used to be in the Estover area of Plymouth, but in 2019 it was relocated to a new building named ‘Elsie Margaret House’. It is in the Derriford area of Plymouth next door to the flagship store. It employs over 300 people.^[28]

The new head office was part of a major development by London-based property developer Petros and was set to include residential, retail, hospitality and office space. Dawson has indicated a long-held ambition to commit The Range to a long-term future and its head office jobs to Plymouth, the city where he has lived most of his life.^[29]

References

1. Telford, William (19 February 2015). "From market trader to millionaire - the rise and rise of Chris Dawson and The Range". Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
2. Media, Insider (15 November 2024). "The Del Boy of the West - who is The Range founder and new Homebase owner Chris Dawson? - Insider Media". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
3. "Wilko: First new stores reopen in Devon". BBC News. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
4. "Homebase collapses with 2,000 jobs at risk". BBC News. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
5. "The Range - Our Story". www.therange.co.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
6. Jordan, Dearbail (28 November 2023). "Wilko: Lisa Wilkinson 'devastated' over the failure of firm". BBC News. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
7. "NORTON GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED". Companies House. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
8. "Did you know... that The Range plans to open 45 stores in the next three years". Retail Week. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
9. "We take a sneak peek inside Swansea's newest The Range store ahead of its grand opening". Swansea Evening Post. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
10. "Popular UK retailer, The Range, to open its doors in Maynooth next month". www.leinsterleader.ie.
11. Kinsella, Aoife (15 May 2019). "The Discounters are here to stay | The Hardware Journal".
12. McKeown, Gareth (14 August 2017). "Retail chain The Range to create 80 jobs with new Connswater store". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
13. "Range boss Chris Dawson climbs rich list with £1.65bn fortune". westernmorningnews. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
14. "InternetRetailing UK Top500 2017 - InternetRetailing". InternetRetailing. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
15. "Leading European multichannel retailers named in 2017 IREU Top500 report - InternetRetailing". InternetRetailing. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
16. Partridge, Joanna (13 November 2024). "Homebase may have to cut 1,700 jobs amid insolvency reports". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
17. Dean, George (14 November 2024). "Wilko and The Range owner saves 70 Homebase stores". kbbreview. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
18. "UPDATE: Hundreds turn up to opening of The Range Superstore". Redditch Advertiser. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
19. Manzoori-Stamford, Janie (19 September 2014). "Compass Group wins £60m contract with The Range". www.thecaterer.com. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
20. "Iceland develops supply chain network to support store expansion strategy". SHD Logistics. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
21. Shaw, Neil (12 September 2019). "Iceland to open first cafe where you can eat then buy frozen meals". WalesOnline. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
22. Timms, Katie (24 July 2023). "The Range opens new cafe in Plymouth". Plymouth Live. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
23. "The Range on LinkedIn: #therange #wilko | 75 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
24. "The Range and DHL open distribution centre in Bristol". ITV News. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
25. "The Range distribution centre will be the largest ever built in the South West - The Business Exchange - Bath and Somerset". The Business Exchange - Bath and Somerset. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
26. "INCREDIBLE NEW AERIAL PICTURES REVEAL THE ENORMITY OF THE RANGE'S NEW AVONMOUTH WAREHOUSE". Central Park Bristol. 4 January 2017.
27. "TritaxTritax Big Box REIT plc - Acquisition of The Range, Nimbus Park, Thorne, Doncaster for £48.5 million - Tritax". www.tritax.co.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
28. "Chris Dawson marks 30 years of The Range by opening another superstore in his home city". Plymouth News Room. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
29. "The Range HQ to anchor new district centre for Derriford - Plymouth News Room". Plymouth News Room. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2017.

External links

• The Range