Kellie Wyles, Head of Upholstery at DFS, talks about the recent partnerships with basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal and global upholstery manufacturer La-Z-Boy, as well as an insight into other initiatives, challenges and trends.
Just a few months ago, national furniture retailer DFS announced a new partnership that saw a first of its kind for the business. Drafting in former professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, or better known as Shaq, the move sees the 7ft 1in NBA legend promote DFS’ new reclining furniture range, including La-Z-Boy products, in the UK.
The partnership forms part of DFS’ wider commitment to help everyone ‘find their thing’ and provide maximum comfort and style in customers’ homes, at affordable prices. Kicking things off, DFS has introduced a new and exclusive La-Z-Boy recliner armchair, the La-Z-Boy XL Tamla – the brand’s biggest ever recliner chair – to ensure everyone, no matter their shape or size, can find their thing and the ultimate comfort at DFS.
This was exclusively modelled by Shaq himself at DFS’ store in Wednesbury back in March, with the new recliner armchair exclusively available to purchase at the retailer, and on in display in select stores, with every order being handmade in La-Z-Boy’s Lancashire factory.
So, what has the initial reaction been like since the launch?
“The Shaq partnership is the first of its kind for DFS, so we’ll be watching closely to see how it performs,” Kellie said. “The initial reaction has been really encouraging. DFS has been designing, making and selling sofas for more than five decades, but we’re always looking for ways to innovate, differentiate our brand within the marketplace, and help both existing and new customers find their perfect ‘thing’ with us.
“We know that comfort is king for our customers, and this new partnership is exciting because it offers the opportunity to raise awareness of our market leading recliner range, our introduction of the iconic La-Z-Boy brand to our offering, and of course surprise and delight audiences with a legend like Shaq! With his unique stature and super busy lifestyle – not to mention his iconic status and sense of humour – he’s the ideal ambassador to supersize our comfort offer to UK shoppers.”
Regarding the introduction of La-Z-Boy into the DFS offer, Kellie added that the reaction has been strong, with the partnership set to flourish moving forward. “We are really excited to have added La-Z-Boy – the world’s best-selling recliner brand – to our offering. We’ve seen a strong positive reaction so far and it’s been fantastic to work closely with La-Z-Boy to design three sofas exclusive to DFS.
“These ranges bring together our in-depth understanding of our customers’ needs, tastes and lifestyles, with La-Z-Boy’s expertise in luxury recliner upholstery, and are all handmade here in the UK. By joining forces, we look forward to opening up new opportunities for growth, bringing out new product lines, and continuing to deliver ultimate comfort and value to our customers’ homes.”
Echoing the sentiment, Tristan Pyke, Managing Director, La-Z-Boy UK & Ireland said that the early response has been “amazing”. “Our extra-large power reclining Tamla chair, inspired by Shaquille O’Neal, continues to perform well. The interest has only increased following the visibility through social media channels.
“DFS has been an excellent partner in championing this exciting partnership and with our UK factory able to tailor chairs according to consumer preferences, we felt this was a perfect opportunity for La-Z-Boy products to be in the spotlight alongside another US icon.
“The early results have been positive! We’ve already seen a strong demand for our products through DFS, particularly the Tamla and Pittsburgh chairs, which are available nationwide. The partnership has given us a fantastic platform to showcase La-Z-Boy to an even broader audience given the size of their retail store network. As we have said from the beginning, the DFS brand is complementary to La-Z-Boy, aligned with our mission of delivering high quality, comfortable furniture.
“The collaboration has been seamless, with all departments working closely together to ensure a smooth and efficient delivery process for customers. We’re looking forward to building on this momentum, bringing more products into homes, and delivering unparalleled comfort and value to customers, as well as seeing continued results from this long-term partnership.”
La-Z-Boy and DFS are collaborating further too, although this remains top secret for now, as Tristan adds: “While we can’t reveal all the details just yet, we’re looking forward to continuing to work with DFS to expand the La-Z-Boy range across their stores, with plans for even more exciting product launches and promotions soon.”
As for DFS, the retailer is continuing to work hard on further additions to support and expand its recliner offer, including some “exciting new designs and market-leading integrated technology”, but, again, as Kellie says, you’ll have to “watch this space” for now. However, what Kellie did reveal is DFS’ ongoing commitment to growing its partnerships.
“We continue to grow our exclusive partner ranges at DFS, and have recently expanded our collections with Country Living and House Beautiful to include beds, dining and occasionals. This means that fans of each brand’s much-loved style will be able to create their ideal look across their entire home, as well as their living room. We’ve also recently introduced new sofa designs to our very successful French Connection and Joules exclusive brand ranges.”
Another area DFS works extremely hard on is meeting the demand of its customers and changing shopping behaviours. Kellie explains: “We’re seeing an increased interest in motion and integrated tech – furniture that works really hard and offers maximum convenience. We’re also seeing people invest in large-scale sofas to dial up on comfort and make the most of the space they have – our u-shape sofas have proven really popular.
“We’re also seeing customers become more confident in incorporating colour into their home, and cooler colours like grey have made way for warmer, earthier tones like sand, tan and chocolate brown. The matchy matchy approach of old is also less popular – we’re seeing a growing number of customers mix and match fabrics, colours and even styles from across our range to create their own unique look.”
With new partnerships, new product designs and new faces promoting the brand, DFS said these are key to remaining ahead of the market. In fact, in its most recent trading update for the 26-week period ended 29 December 2024, total half year sales stood at £504.5m, inline with that of the prior period the previous year. Gross margin increased from 56% to 56.7%, while underlying pre-tax profit resulted at £17m, up by £8.3m from £8.7m year-on-year.
DFS said that its “compelling customer proposition” drove year-on-year order intake growth of +10.1% in a subdued market, with both the DFS and Sofology brands gaining market share. Trading through the first 10 weeks of the second half has remained “strong”, as year-to-date order intake rose +11%, with the business “confident” in achieving its longer-term targets of £1.4bn full year revenue and 8% PBT medium-term.
“The market remains subdued, but we’ve secured a greater market share thanks to our compelling consumer proposition, which is really encouraging,” Kellie said. “Our main challenge is ensuring that we’re staying ahead, continuing to innovate, and differentiating ourselves within a competitive market.
“We have our own design studio and a team of talented in-house designers, which means we can remain really agile. We source inspiration from all over the world, as well as looking at the latest trends and customer insights, to deliver stylish, high quality and great value products to our customers’ homes.”
