SALES of sofas have been outstripping all previous records at Skipton’s High Corn Mill furnishing store, The Home Company, with management saying it has enjoyed its best ever trading period since reopening after the second national lockdown.

Staff at the independent home furnishings company in Chapel Hill say since reopening on April 12, business has seen soaraway sofa sales with lighting and rugs also doing well.

Store manager Michelle Swinscoe said: “I think the combination of people spending so much time at home over the past year and noticing how worn their chairs and upholstery had become, along with the boom in house sales, has prompted many people to go out and buy new furniture.

“For us it’s been sofas, sofas, sofas – despite the fact there have been a couple of price rises and also delays on deliveries of up to 12 weeks.

“Nothing seems to have deterred people and we’ve been delighted with the number of regular customers who have come back to support us.

“The result has been our best ever sales period with sofas alone notching up six figure sums.”

Owner Andrew Mear invested some £50,000 refurbishing the store’s upstairs showroom during this year’s lockdown along with relaunching the store website to enable online sales.

He said: “It’s been an interesting time and we’ve seen clear evidence of a pent up demand in consumer spending since reopening in April.

“Sales of sofas have been phenomenal with demand currently outstripping supply.”

First established in 1981 as Pottery & Pine, the company says it has continually developed to keep pace with the ever-changing designs and fashions in home furnishings.

Its latest expansion was completed in 2015 with the addition of a new showroom overlooking the Springs canal, bringing the total floorspace to over 4000sq.ft.

The Home Company stocks a wide range of upholstery including Stressless, The Dales Collection, Verikon, and Paulus & Brown.