Reflecting on Past, Present & Future
As another year comes to a close, we would like to take a moment to say thank you to all of our loyal customers for visiting us over the last 37 years. Through your continued support we have gone from strength to strength and we will continue serving you to the high quality you have come to expect from us.
At this time of year, we often reflect on how far we have come, from humble beginnings to the largest family-run, independent furniture retailer in the West Midlands. We are so grateful for all who helped us get where we are today, including all our staff throughout the company.
Over the years, we’ve seen many famous faces, stopped traffic in town centres and enjoyed every minute of it - we hope you enjoy our story as much as we have enjoyed living it this far. There’s plenty more to come and we hope you will join us along the way.
The first Cousins Furniture store opened in Tyseley, Birmingham on 17th August 1985 and we’ve never looked back. The store was officially opened by the famous comedienne and impressionist Faith Brown to a blaze of publicity. The day was joyous for all involved and a proud acheivement still talked about often.
By 1995, a second retail site which was a former Tesco Superstore was acquired in Dudley, in the West Midlands. This was transformed into a 90,000ft² furniture showroom, and opened on 17th August 1996, by Liz Dawn and Bill Tarmey (Jack and Vera Duckworth from Coronation Street) bringing the town centre to a standstill as the largest number of people ever recorded visited Dudley to attend the opening event.
During 2020 lockdown, Cousins were offered an opportunity to expand their store portfolio, close to their West Midlands base. We purchased the landmark 4 acre site of the flagship former Alan Ward Furniture store in Shrewsbury, which for 50 years had been the number one furniture shopping destination in Shropshire, along with their former store in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
We re-branded and refurbished those newly acquired stores to enhance the shopping experience of the furniture-buying public of Shropshire and Staffordshire. Both stores opened in August 2020 as Cousins Furniture Stores, to a blaze of positive publicity at a time when most retail and economic news was negative.
Cousins is the largest family-run independent furniture retailer in the Midlands, offering world-renowned brands such as Calligaris, G Plan, Parker Knoll, Duresta, Venjakob, Stressless, Tempur and Hypnos. We’re a true local business, employing over 120 people across the West Midlands and championing many local suppliers, including the makers of Cousins Bespoke sofas, beds and bedrooms.
Cousins Furniture stores are open 7 days a week, with two late shopping evenings -Tuesday & Thursdayuntil 8pm. Each store is easily accessible by road and close to public transport links, in addition to being local to some great family-friendly attractions too, so that you can combine your visit for a fun family day out! Each store has expansive free car parking and offers easy mobility access and free customer WiFi.
