Home furnishings retailer Dunelm has reported a growth in fourth quarter and full year sales as it continues to rollout new stores.
According to its latest trading update for the 13-week period ended 27 June 2026, total Q4 sales rose 2.9% to £428m, while full year sales increased 3.1% to £1.8bn.
Full year gross margin improved 10bps to 52.5%, with pre-tax profit expected to be in line with previous guidance of around £210m.
Dunelm said its Summer Living category traded particularly strongly, both at full price and on promotion, with good sell-through across the range.
Growth in the fourth quarter was achieved despite trading being impacted by two separate weeks of exceptionally warm weather, during which it saw lower levels of store footfall. The first of these also coincided with the opening week of its usual Summer Sale, which disproportionately impacted trading.
As for the full year, Dunelm added that growth reflects the continued benefits of investment in its digital ecosystem, including the launch of its app, further enhancing customer experience and supporting growth across its channels.
In the final week of the year, Dunelm opened its new 34,000 sq ft superstore in Kingston-upon-Thames. This store showcases the latest iteration of its format, demonstrating an evolution towards a more inspirational Dunelm store experience, and aligning more closely to the best of Dunelm online.
As previously reported, Dunelm also has a stronger pipeline of store openings planned for FY27, and expect the number of new stores opened to be towards the upper end of its medium-term guidance to open between five and 10 new superstores per year.
Clo Moriarty, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We have delivered a solid performance both in the quarter and across the year. There is, however, much more we must do to build on our core strengths and realise our untapped potential.
“From expanding and improving our store estate to continuing to innovate digitally, we’re beginning to demonstrate what a bigger, better and bolder Dunelm can look like. As the market leader in a large and highly fragmented market, we believe our best growth opportunities are still in front of us.
“There’s hard work ahead but I’m confident in the plans that we have been developing over the past nine months and excited by what comes next. We look forward to sharing more in September.”
