A town centre building that has been neglected since 2020 is being given a new lease of life this weekend, as Furniture Warehouse opens its newest branch this weekend.
The new store has transformed the site of the former Beales department store, which closed its Silver Street branch in March 2020.
Furniture Warehouse will officially open its doors on Saturday, 3 October and is the brand’s 10th branch in the UK.
The building has undergone a substantial renovation, both internally and externally, transforming the long-vacant site into a modern new home for Furniture Warehouse.
After the previous tenants left, the building had been left in a very sorry state and was seen by many as a blight on the town centre.
The changes made by Furniture Warehouse are already clearly visible, with significant work undertaken to give the property a completely fresh look ahead of the opening – giving the town centre a much-needed aesthetic uplift.
The Bedford store will showcase Furniture Warehouse’s extensive range of sofas, including its specialist reclining sofa collection, alongside furniture for the bedroom, dining room and living room, mattresses, accessories and more.
With the opening of its 10th store, the company said that further expansion is already planned later in 2026.
“Bedford: a town with huge potential”
Furniture Warehouse CEO Grace Kettle told the Bedford Independent: “We are incredibly excited to be opening our doors in Bedford.
“It’s a fantastic town with a strong sense of community, and we’ve been looking at Bedford for some time as a location that fits perfectly with our plans for the future.
“The opportunity to take a building that has been empty since 2020 and give it a completely new lease of life was particularly appealing to us.”
Ms Kettle told us that the business had invested heavily in the interior and exterior of the building.
“We think people will be genuinely impressed when they see what we’ve done with it,” she said.
“Bedford is a town with huge potential, and we want to become part of that.
We’re looking forward to welcoming local people through the doors, showing them what Furniture Warehouse is all about and, most importantly, giving them a great reason to shop locally.
“This is our 10th store, but it certainly isn’t the end of the story. We’ve got plenty more planned very soon, and we’re delighted that Bedford will be such an important part of the next chapter for Furniture Warehouse.”
The new Furniture Warehouse Bedford store will open this Saturday, 3 October, with customers invited to visit the new showroom from 9.30am to explore the full range.
The opening forms part of Furniture Warehouse’s ongoing expansion across the region, with further new stores expected to follow later in 2026.
WIN a £150 Furniture Warehouse voucher
To celebrate the new store opening, we have two £150 vouchers to give away to our readers.
To enter, email your answer to the following question to win@bedfordindependent.co.uk by 11.59pm on Friday, 9 October.
Question: Including Bedford, how many stores does Furniture Warehouse have across the UK?
The winner will be notified on Saturday, 10 October. Full terms and conditions can be found here.
