Stories are emerging of a rumoured relaunch of the MFI furniture chain using the Hygena and Schrieber brand names, both of which were owned by MFI.
However this may not be as simple as it sounds since other retailers in the sector rush in to fill the void left by the demise of MFI.
Home improvement chains are preparing to profit from the collapse of MFI, which usually takes a £100 million slice of the market for kitchens and bathrooms in January.
B&Q is believed to have set itself a target of seizing at least 25 per cent of MFI’s share with aggressive discounts over the coming weeks, including half-price bathrooms and half-price kitchen and bedroom installation.
The chain has been trawling MFI stores to woo staff, some of whom usually pull in sales of more than £1million a year.
Competitors for the spoils will also include Wickes, Focus, Homebase and Ikea, Wickes have already launched a campaign on television to try to capitilise on MFI’s demise. They in turn will face competition from Tesco, which a month ago launched a kitchens range, starting at £1,000.
Following the demise of the 200-store MFI, experts predict that the rest of the sector will this year witness a series of failures as it contracts after years of growth.
The rumoured plans to relaunch some MFI stores under two of the chain’s brand names, Hygena and Schreiber, but a spokeswoman for administrator MCR would only say: ‘I can confirm the brands are for sale, but no deal has yet been concluded.’
So any relaunch will face stiff competition in some of the toughest trading conditions that have been seen for decades and is liable to be a very limited start.