Mountain Warehouse eyes empty Carpetright stores for expansion

Outdoor retailer Mountain Warehouse is eyeing some of the 200-plus Carpetright stores put up for sale through CBRE last month. Administrators appointed the agent to offload 239 leaseholds following the collapse of Carpetright in July. So far Bensons for Beds has bought a portfolio of 19 of the stores. Mountain Warehouse said it was eyeing the stores following a return to profit in the year ended 29 February. The group reported a pretax profit of £26.2m, up from a loss of £1.5m a year earlier. Total sales were up by 4% to £386m, with store revenues up by 7.1% off the back of 28 new and relocated properties. The retailer said it was keen to open 50 new or relocated stores in its 2025 full year and had already opened 20 since the end of its financial year. Mountain Warehouse has more than 330 stores across the UK, Europe, New Zealand and North America. Image © Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock