Keeping it in the family

WHEN the furniture store Housing Units started out with its first small shop on Oldham Road in Hollinwood back in 1947, one of the first customers through the door was Elizabeth Foster.
 
Sixty years on and Elizabeth, now 91, is still a regular customer and her daughter, her two granddaughters and her two great granddaughters have followed her shopping lead.
 
All four generations of the family make regular joint trips to the store, which is now more a mini village of furnishings and homeware on a new site in Failsworth where it is celebrating its diamond anniversary
 
Granddaughter Karen Thomas said: “We go that often that all the staff know us by name! Maybe it’s unusual that several generations of a family all shop at the same place, but we just love it and never think of going anywhere else. Plus, the store has developed and changed as our family has grown and they do things that are traditional that my Nan likes and more modern things that I want.”
 
She remembers being taken by her mum Stephanie Hilton to help choose furniture and they are keeping with tradition by taking along Heidi and Elle, her sister Tracey’s two daughters.
 
Karen said: “The first piece I bought for my own house was probably some fitted bedroom furniture – but I’m now on my third house and my third lot of furniture. I dread to think how much we have all spent over the years – but we do like nice things.”
 
She can reel off pieces of furniture in every room of her Royton home, from the dining table and chairs to the new bathroom and all its accessories to the pebble fire in the living room, and says every ornament and picture has come from the store.

Displays
 
Sister Tracey is much the same and has just kitted out her conservatory and taken delivery of a new bed and all new bedding. She said: “It is like a family day out for us. We go and have something to eat and look at all the displays and my girls are choosing their own things for their rooms now.”
 
Mum Stephanie says she has been buying things for her own home for 40 years but remembers going with her mum when the shop was on Oldham Road.
 
She said: “It was just like an Aladdin’s cave to me – I absolutely loved going and have never stopped. It was only a little place then but has just got bigger and bigger and you can easily spend all day there.

“I recently got a new bathroom from them and have my eye on a new fireplace, but really I like the kitchen section the best. I love all the new glassware and the pots and all the different gadgets.”
 
Housing Units director Nick Fox said: “You often hear that furnishings are timeless, but it is great to see that a relationship between Housing Units and its customers can also be timeless.
 
“We have a very modern approach to retailing, particularly with some of the high technology and sharp-end design items in our store. But we have learnt a great deal in 60 years.

“A crucial and key point is that when somebody comes into our store to buy an item – no matter what its size or piece – we don’t fall into the trap of thinking that is a deal done and dusted: when a customer walks through our door, they’re potentially customers for life. “The Thomas family is a case in point – four generations have returned again and again.  That’s proof that customer service and product knowledge has great value in the eyes of the consumer.

 “Because we are a family business, there’s great passion and drive. None of us sits back on the considerable range of sofas and relaxes – we are always looking for the next great home furnishing innovation.
 
“A purpose-built kitchen showroom will open in summer and we have , created our own small retail park with literally everything somebody needs for the home.”
 
So of all the items they have bought over the years which are their favourite pieces? Nan Elizabeth goes for her comfy armchair, mum Stephanie for her dressing table, Tracey for her stylish sofa and favourite picture and Karen for her fireplace.

What do you think? Have your say.

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