Housing Units scoops top national award

A FAMILY-OWNED department store based in North Manchester has been named one of the top department stores in the country in the retail equivalent of the Oscars.

Failsworth-based Housing Units – which is known for its top-hatted doormen – won the award for best department store retailer of gifts in ‘The Greats Gift Retailer of the Year Awards 2010’.

Other finalists included John Lewis’s flagship store in London’s Oxford Street.

The award is open to independent department stores, or individual outlets of bigger chains, and notes product range, product knowledge, staff training, customer care, promotion and display.

Stuart Fox, retail operations director of Housing Units, who collected the award, said: “This is a jaw-dropping achievement, and incredible reward for the staff and
management who live, eat and breathe Housing Units, and who are passionate about making a difference.

“That we are competing against some of the greatest stores in the land is tribute to all concerned at Housing Units.

“We know our customers well, we know what they like, and many of them are like loyal friends as well as supporters.”

The event took place at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel on May 20.

Housing Units was established in 1947 and stocks 30,000 high-quality lines across a range of departments in two buildings.

It prides itself on customer service, the value of its goods and the shopping experience it provides.