Founded in a disused paper mill in 1973 by George Knowles Snr, Sterling’s 250,000 sqft Tillicoultry store is now Scotland’s largest furniture showroom, leading a nine-strong Sterling Home store portfolio. With a multi-million-pound refurb cementing Tillicoultry’s place as the “ultimate family shopping destination”, Sterling’s marketing and digital director Euan Graham speaks exclusively to Furniture News about the difficult journey behind making the family business fit for the future …
It’s no secret that Sterling has been through some tough times in recent years. What was this principally down to?
As with all businesses, we have come up against challenges, and I’m extremely proud of the way we’ve dealt with them, grown, and evolved.
There have been multiple factors and a combination of pressures. The industry was under strain after Covid – costs were rising fast and customer expectations were changing quickly. At the same time, the business was going through a generational handover, in the middle of which, we sadly lost my mum.
This period brought a huge amount of emotion and reflection on who we are as a family business and what we want to stand for.
We’ve also had natural transition in the leadership team, and in the past year, made some exceptional hires. Stewart Robertson (CEO) and Bernard Dunn (chairman) have been central to this reset. They are steady, grounded leaders who care deeply about the brand and hold a shared view that the focus will always remain to be on our customers. Their direction has allowed the next generation of our leaders at Sterling Home to implement the changes the business needed.
You are in a better place now though, right?
We are, absolutely. The last year has been about doing the hard yards to get the business to a healthy place. We have simplified the organisational structure, invested properly in our stores and modernised our digital platforms.
The market is still challenging, but the business is moving forward with confidence. We are building again. The teams feel the momentum. And most importantly, customers can see the improvements in our stores.
Let’s talk about the changes you’ve made to the Tillicoultry flagship store. What prompted the overhaul, and what were its most challenging and rewarding aspects?
Tillicoultry has always been the flagship, but during the Sterling Home rollout through the Covid years we needed to ensure that it kept its sparkle.
Bringing back the magic became a real labour of love. It is the largest family-owned furniture store in the UK and a destination for so many people, so it deserved to feel special again.
The scale was the biggest challenge. Reworking a 250,000 sqft site while keeping it trading meant unpicking decades of incremental layout changes and creating a logical flow through each area of the store.
But the reward has been huge. The store now has a clear journey, with defined atmospheres that make sense for the modern shopper. Whether you are moving from the Leather Lounge into the calm Fabric Loft, or from the Dining Room into Casa Italia or the Luxe Galleries, each area has its own identity and its own sense of occasion. You can feel the pride in the teams and see the reaction from customers every day.
How is the Leather Lounge performing, and how does it fit into your wider upholstery offer?
The Leather Lounge has performed brilliantly, but more importantly it set the tone for everything that followed. It showed us what happens when you give a category its own story, its own sense of space and a clearer reason to explore. That same approach shaped the Fabric Loft, the development of the Dining Room, the Brand Hall and the creation of Casa Italia and the Luxe Galleries.
Customers are spending longer in the store, engaging more with the product and taking their time. That is exactly what we want. We want people to enjoy being here and to feel inspired.
What does your balance of white-label and branded lines look like now, and why?
We believe in the combination. We have strong exclusive ranges that give us great value and flexibility, and we combine those with brands that bring design, craft and confidence.
We’re not interested in racing to the lowest price point. Our customers want quality and long-term value, and the right mix of brands helps us deliver that.
Read the rest of our interview with Euan in February's issue.
