Poltronesofa at ScS faces a major battle on its hands if it is to lift its lowly brand consideration.
This is the verdict of new analysis by GlobalData. Matt Walton, GlobalData senior data analyst praise the appointment of Mike Schmidt as ceo, saying the former DFS and B&M finance director brings ‘a wealth of experience of the UK upholstery market and its closest competitor’ to the chain’s Italian owners, but ‘an early priority should be to improve ScS’s brand consideration among upholstery shoppers.’
The company’s consumer research found it was languishing in eighth place in terms of where shoppers would consider – albeit in Q2 2025 – ‘consistently behind the likes of Argos, IKEA, John Lewis and DFS for consideration.’
He says: ‘Poltronesofa has been in a state of transition since acquiring ScS in January 2024, refurbishing its stores and developing its offer to focus more on design. The retailer has recently put the capstone on this conversion through rebranding its stores to the Poltronesofa at ScS fascia. Now with this phase complete, the next step is to communicate this new offer and fascia to prospective customers and become more considered among shoppers, which was challenging in 2025. [It] aims to appeal to a wider customer base from its previous more price-sensitive shopper, through its new more design led offer.’
The chain’s shift towards design is the right strategy as buying into a new look remains a key driver for upholstery purchases, he says, but, there is a risk in going after a different customer base which is already well served by other upholstery retailers.
‘The rebrand should support this as it creates a clear break and adjusting its interest free credit offer up to five years, as it did in January 2026, should further encourage shoppers to trade up. However, with DFS reporting that footfall has softened since the start of 2026, ScS is attempting to change course in stormy seas.’
