Chapter 1
From a thriving market stall to the high street…
In 1979 our founder, Bill Adderley, saw an opportunity in textiles, so he and his wife Jean decided to invest in a batch of second-hand, ready-made curtains, ‘seconds’ curtains and bedding, and slippers. They set up their stall at Leicester Market, and by the early 1980s had opened their first high street shop. Our story really does begin at home. Dunelm is, in fact, the name of the house where Bill, Jean and family lived when they first started on the market stall.
Bill & Jean Adderley started Dunelm as a stall on Leicester Market.
Our first high street store opened in Churchgate, Leicester.
Our second store opened, a converted Art Deco cinema in Coalville.
We opened the East Street flagship store with warehouse facilities to help us expand.
We opened our first store outside of Leicestershire, in Rotherham.
Chapter 2
…to superstore expansion…
Following the success of the early high street stores, Dunelm continued to grow. After opening the first out-of-town Dunelm Mill store in Rotherham in 1994, Will Adderley, Bill and Jean’s son, was appointed Managing Director a couple of years later. He oversaw a period of significant store expansion, while also opening a new head office and purpose-built warehouse. By 2010 the business had opened its 100th store, having been listed on the London Stock Exchange a few years earlier.
We opened our first head office on Fosse Way in Syston, Leicester.
Dunelm bought a small manufacturing business in Leicester, and our Made To Measure curtains and blinds workroom was born.
In the year we opened our 50th store, we also opened a new warehouse in Burton-on-Trent to help us meet increased demand.
Our first shoppable website went live. We set up our first web fulfilment centre below our Radcliffe store and opened our Customer Service Centre at the back of the same store – it’s still there today!
We acquired the rights to the trusted Dorma brand, along with its Royal Warrants.
Chapter 3
…to going digital
Having brought computers into our stores in 2000 and launched our first shoppable website in 2005, 2019 marked the first time we made £1 million in online sales in a day. We also introduced our successful Click & Collect service and continued to open new stores.
Our 100th store opened in Liverpool.
We introduced our reserve & collect service, which would eventually become Click & Collect.
We re-branded to Dunelm, dropping the word ‘Mill’ from the name. We also ran our first-ever national TV campaign.
With our stores shut due to the COVID pandemic, our colleagues set to work manufacturing more than 65,000 gowns and face coverings for the NHS and local care homes.
We opened our 180th store in Greenwich, London – and we’ve been celebrating more openings since!
We celebrated 40 years of Dunelm stores since our first one opened on Churchgate.
Chapter 4
Looking to the future
Still opening new stores across the country, we’re showing no signs of slowing down. We’re working hard to continually improve and expand our product range, and to make sure shopping with us – in store and online – is a great experience. As a trusted homeware and furniture destination, we’re committed to making decisions that will stand us – and our customers – in good stead for what comes next, and for a long time to come.