ILVA

ILVA is a furniture store founded in Denmark in 1974.

The company opened its first overseas store in Malmö, Sweden and in 2006 it opened three UK stores (in Manchester, Thurrock and Gateshead). First store in Iceland opened 4.October 2008 in Reykjavík

The internationalisation of ILVA reverses the common trend of retail internationalisation offered by literature. ILVA, rather than making acquisitions of other stores, was acquired by Martin Toogood in 2003, with a view to internationalise into the UK. Martin Toogood believed that there was a gap in the UK middle market of furniture retailing.

United Kingdom operations

ILVA opened its first United Kingdom store in 2006. It planned to open stores close to existing IKEA stores in order to boost their customer base.

In July 2007 the Daily Telegraph reported that the company had run up losses of £11.5 million. [cite news
last = Fletcher
first = Richard
title = ILVA lost £11.5m before opening
work = Daily Telegraph
publisher = Telegraph Media Group
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/24/cnilva124.xml
date = 2007-07-24
accessdate = 2008-08-09
quote = ILVA, the troubled furniture chain, ran up losses of £11.5m before it had even opened the doors of its first UK store. Accounts filed at Companies House last week by the group's UK subsidiary provide an insight into ILVA's difficulties. The retailer parted company with chief executive Martin Toogood earlier this year. The group's private equity backer Advent International - which has invested more than £50m in the business during the past three years - has refused to invest any more money in the retailer.]

The store was sold to the Icelandic furniture group Rúmfatalagerinn in August 2007, [cite news
last = Fletcher
first = Richard
title = ILVA sold to Icelandic furniture group
work = Daily Telegraph
publisher = Telegraph Media Group
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/02/cnilva102.xml
date = 2007-08-02
accessdate = 2008-08-09
quote = ILVA, the troubled furniture retailer, has been sold to an Icelandic furniture group which owns rival UK furniture retailer The Pier. Rúmfatalagerinn has bought a majority stake in ILVA, which owns seven stores in Denmark, the UK and Sweden, for an undisclosed sum. The Icelandic group has an option to acquire the remaining shares.] but losses continued to mount as the company was losing £2.33 for every £1 taken. [cite news
last = Fletcher
first = Richard
title = ILVA racks up £2.33 loss for every £1 taken
work = Sunday Telegraph
publisher = Telegraph Media Group
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/01/13/cnilva113.xml
date = 2008-01-13
accessdate = 2008-08-09
quote = ILVA, the furniture retailer, lost £2.33 for every £1 spent in its stores last year, racking up total losses of £62m.]

In March and April 2008 their Manchester store was attacked by criminals firing ball bearings at the windows. There were two separate attacks which cost the business £10,000 due to the size of the windows which had been attacked. [cite news
title = Attacks Cost Store £10,000
publisher = Manchester Evening News
url = http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1044844_attacks_cost_store_10000
date = 2008-04-10
accessdate = 2008-08-09]

On 25 June 2008, ILVA placed its UK business into administration. [cite news
last = Hawkes
first = Steve
title = Ilva places its UK business into administration
work = The Times
publisher = News International
url = http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article4215184.ece
date = 2008-06-26
accessdate = 2008-08-09
quote = A Danish furniture chain that vowed to take on Ikea when it entered the UK two years ago has become the latest victim of the credit crunch. Ilva said it had appointed Kroll, the corporate recovery specialist, as administrator of its UK business in a move that leaves 400 jobs hanging in the balance. The Reading-based business runs three out-of-town stores, in Thurrock, Gateshead and Manchester. It arrived with a fanfare in 2006 and said it would rival John Lewis by the end of the decade. However, results published this year showed that the business made a £62 million loss on £26 million of sales in the year to April 2007. ] On 18 July 2008 the joint administrators announced that they had been unable to secure a buyer for the business after an interested party withdrew at the last minute and that all three stores would close over the following six to twelve weeks. A closing down sale started immediately to sell as much stock as possible. All three stores will close permanently on 22 September 2008.

Administator, Kroll, brought the closing date forward as stock reduced. ILVA closed its doors in the UK on Sunday 7th September 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.ilva.dk/ ILVA Denmark website]
* [http://www.ilva.co.uk/ ILVA UK website]
* [http://www.ilva.is/ ILVA Iceland website]