our weekend with Hippo

Out with the old and in with the new.


And this past week has seen plenty of both.

All but a very few pieces remain of our Pine and Oak furniture displays, as we enter a new phase of our store's future as James Allen Bedrooms.

In its vacant position we are now proudly displaying a huge selection of beds and mattresses of all types.

We have 3' (single) mattresses starting from £49.99 and 4'6" (double) mattresses starting from £99.99, we have pocket sprung and we have memory foam, we even have memory latex, we have wooden beds, metal beds, divans and a whole host of headboards to choose from.

And we also have a new supplier.


As we launched Bedzzz, our brand new bed and mattress department, we felt that we needed to be showing the very best, and offering the very best choice to our customers, so we went direct to the country's most recognisable mattress brand, Silentnight.

And with a launch weekend planned, Silentnight sent a very special guest to our shop to watch over proceedings and ensure we were doing a good enough job.

Hippo was far too excited to stay in the shop though and could be seen dancing outside for the whole of Saturday and Sunday, waving to cars, making friends with children, getting plenty of attention from grown women and posing for loads of photos!

Hippo even went for a quick walk around Enfield Town and caused quite a stir wherever he went.

We know we certainly enjoyed our weekend with Hippo, and we're pretty sure that he was having fun too!

If you posed for a photo with Hippo, or just want to see what he got up to, head over to facebook where you can 'like' James Allen Bedrooms' and start tagging the photos of yourselves.

James Allen Bedrooms on facebook

and don't forget, you can also follow James Allen Bedrooms and Silentnight Beds on twitter.

- Glen

the final countdown

Well. the time is nearly upon us.


Within the next couple of weeks we hope to have all existing stock of pine and oak furniture cleared out completely, along with the few remaining rugs, light fittings and pictures.


Many customers have snapped up bargains over the last two weeks as we have been reducing prices, but there is still a little way to go yet to get the shop completely empty.


This means further reductions across the shop on all pine and oak furniture.


Yes, it is cliched, but everything really must go!


With our Pine and Oak department closed down and emptied out we shall prepare for a relaunch at the end of this month, with new stock, new displays and some very exciting offers and announcements due very soon.


So take a look at what we have left before it is all gone, and be sure to check back for more news on our new direction very soon.

- Glen

after the riots

As many people will have no doubt heard, following riots in Tottenham, Enfield was targeted for looting and chaos on Sunday 7th August.

Obviously as rumours started to circle in the afternoon,our first priority was to make sure that all staff were safe, and our sunday opening hours meant that no-one was instore by the time that there were any signs of trouble.

But as the evening progressed, wilder rumours spread via twitter and very few hard facts were available, the 24 hour news channels only touched a little on the extent of what was going on, so it became a long drawn out waiting game to see what state our showroom would be in in the morning, if it was still standing at all.


The cold light of day, disproved the overblown tales of Nandos and Krispy Kremes going up in flames, and we were fortunate enough to only have had one window along our shop frontage broken.



Other shops were not quite so lucky, with looting affecting HMV and G Mantella, and a local chemist that had been working late was forced to barricade themselves in to try and keep out looters.

The main road through The Town remained closed off and a air of curiousity had changed to an impending sense of fear, with practically every shop closed by 4pm, as reports that shops and offices had been advised to evacuate in case of more trouble.





Thankfully no further trouble was apparent and after a peaceful march held by proud and concerned Enfield residents took to the streets on wednesday evening, Enfield feels like a much safer place once again.


Throughout Enfield Town, many shops now sport rather apt signs encouraging our residents to 'keep smiling' through all that has happened recently, these stickers can be bought from Fast Signs on Coleman Parade, and T-shirts bearing the same design can be purchased from our next door neighbour, Kapture-Me, with profits going to Riot charities, so dig deep, support our boys.

and most importantly, keep smiling.

- Glen

James Allen Bedrooms join the 21st century

In recent years we have seen a change in our displays and a change of name.

Formerly, House of Pine and quite clearly specialising in pine furniture, modern tastes has seen us expand our specialty market to include displays of solid oak furniture and contemporary fitted bedrooms.

And thus, we became James Allen Bedrooms, so as not to confuse those that thought we strictly stocked pine (although we don't strictly sell just bedrooms either, but that's another story).

Following these new directions, we have now finally taken a step into the modern world of interactive social media.

Our blog and website will still provide a main hub of information on the ranges we run and images of our bedroom collections, but apparently we need to be EVERYWHERE to survive in the 21st century.

So, you can now 'like' us on facebook
(where we are currently feeling rather unliked)


you can follow us on twitter
(where we promise not to spam you, but instead provide short messages and news of special offers)



you can 'check in' with us using foursquare
(where we will... i'm not really sure to be honest)



and you can watch us on youtube
(where we will introduce ourselves, our shop and our offers)





our first video is up already, presented by my good self so that you can now put a face to the name, giving you a quick run through on our range of pine blanket boxes and ottomans that are currently at a special price





but, rest assured, for those that are perhaps a little more old-fashioned and would rather be dealing face-to-face than with interfaces, we are still open 7 days a week, with both our Enfield Town and Crews Hill branch manned by friendly and helpful staff (that haven't found the time to tweet too often yet)

mattress clearance and bean bag sale

Businesses sometimes like to do something a little extra special for the Bank Holidays, and we are certainly no exception.

Starting tomorrow (Saturday 28th May) we shall be running a massive warehouse clearance sale on mattresses.

Opening up the doors of one of our storage warehouses at our Crews Hill branch, and slashing the prices on the overstock of mattresses and a handful of divan bases.

also instore at Enfield and Crews Hill you will find a number of reductions and offers across the store, including 10% off all Bean Bags whilst our stocks last.

the morning after the night before

part one here

Thankfully, our second day in Germany didn't start with too many sore heads.

Although it did start rather sooner than I actually expected, having set the alarm the previous night I gave full consideration to the country's time difference, but awaking from slumber it had slipped my mind completely, and satisfied that I still had plenty of time, turned off the alarm and set it for an hours time.

Of course I didn't get another hours sleep, as shortly after I was woken by a phonecall to let me know that our taxi would be departing from downstairs in ten minutes.

A quick dive in the shower, teeth brushed, smart attire back on and then my previously organised packing went straight out the window as I bundled my possessions back into my holdall in a rather ragtag fashion.

In good time I was back downstairs again and back en route for a factory tour of the huge operation, seeing the furniture develop from it's initial boards, through the process that adds the finishes we order and the machines that sort and weigh bags of screws and fixings, right up to the point that customer orders are loaded up on the back of the lorries that come out to us retailers.

Having had first hand experience of placing bedroom orders and also unloading them as they come off at our Crews Hill warehouse, it was fascinating to witness so much of the furniture's journey that I had never seen before.

The rest of the afternoon before our flight back was spent finalising the details of a new display that should be on show in our Crews Hill branch by July, a beautiful new range that has only just been introduced and we are very proud to be one of the very first places in the UK to see it.

- Glen

one night in Milternberg

Well that certainly wasn't an average working week.

Instead of the normal 9 to 5, Wednesday morning started at 5am, waking up, getting washed and dashing out and very nearly missing the 7.25am flight to Frankfurt from Heathrow.

All of this was in aid of a business trip to visit the factory and main showroom of our fitted bedroom supplier.

Surviving on just a few hours sleep, a mini sandwich mid-flight and a rather rubbery wurst from the German canteen, we dived straight into the lengthy business of perusing the new prototype bedrooms in order to gage what designs and what colours appeal and what bedrooms will actually make it through to the production stages.

Once business was done with we returned to our hotel in the sleepy little town of Milterberg and decided to take a wander and enjoy the area we were staying in, despite almost everything being shut past 6pm, it was still a beautiful place to stroll around and take in as the sun continued to beat down in a way it was most likely not doing back in England.

The night wore on far too quickly as we sampled plenty of Milernberg's very own beer, Faust and dined on ostrich and a traditional local recipe for beef, before moving onto sinking a few spirits as members of the party gradually dropped out of draining hospitality's expense account.

part two here

- Glen

back to work

Many of our customers shall now be settling back into their jobs after all the excitement of the Easter bank holidays, but other than allowing staff to be with their families on Easter Sunday, and to watch the Royal Wedding last week, we have still been here working hard.

Our Easter Sale saw a number of ex-display models reduced and cleared from our shop floors, and it has taken us no time at all to fill the gaps with our latest range of beds that we have been rolling out across both of our stores.

On display in the window of our Enfield Town branch is a brand new pine bunk bed that we are introducing since we so often get asked for them, and although we have them available from suppliers, we do feel that many people would like to see them for theirselves before buying.

Joining the bunk bed is a beautifully modern chrome bed that sits wonderfully alongside our contemporary fitted bedrooms and is has already sparked interest amongst those that couldn't fail to notice it while browsing.

And for us now, we have a few choices of new bedrooms displays to order in that shall be fitted in our showroom by summer, we have a London based furniture exhibition to attend, as well as a trip to Germany in order to visit our supplier's huge factory, view their latest lines and hear their plans for the future.

- Glen

I assure you that we're open

Blanking out two large windows for a week as we prepared our brand new display away from prying eyes seems to have had a rather adverse effect.

Despite large signs in each window declaring that a new range would be in the window soon, some people seemed to have got the wrong impression and simply assumed that we were closing down.

Some people muttered to their other halves as they strolled past that 'another business had gone under', whilst other, more concerned, citizens have come into the shop or even rung us to ask if we would be shutting down.

So today, the windows were wiped clean, unveiling our Enfield Town branch's new display of Altro furniture that has already proved successful when installed at our Crews Hill branch.

And joining the stunning, modern looking range of wardrobes is a rather classy looking bed from a new line that we have just started running, other beds available include metal framed bedsteads, leather bedsteads and also children's cabin and bunk beds.

All of these we shall be rolling out across both branches once we have cleared a few more ex-demo beds, so there is also bargains to be had, and available for immediate collection.

In summary then, no, we're not closing down, yes, we're staying exactly where we are, and now have even more new ranges than ever before.

- Glen

mirrors, mirrors, on the wall

What people don't often see when they are just casually strolling through Enfield Town is quite how often the inside of the shop is changing.

It is changing almost constantly.

It could be changing to make way for new stock or new displays, it may be changing if we have just sold off ex-demo pieces, and sometimes we just end up changing it around because either we're unconvinced or just plain bored of seeing it the way it is.

Just last week, we transformed our range of mirrors that we have been showing since November and created a new dedicated gallery section that shows of the pieces that we have in stock beautifully.

Where once we had a handful of mirrors above beds and the rest were stacked for browsing, we now have almost our entire stock hung on custom built walls that are well worth a look at.


And talking of change-arounds, today we shall be blocking out one of our most prominent windows as work gets underway to deconstruct our Roma overbed that has been the shop's main focal point for a handful of years, and a brand new window display should hopefully be installed by the end of the weekend.

So keep your eyes out for any other changes we may have going on, and keep checking back for more updates.

- Glen

where is Lara Croft?

One item for discussion that has often been raised in the workplace is, do we need Lara Croft stood outside?

For almost as long as i have worked here, Lara Croft has been too.

She is a quiet member of staff and has never moaned about spending long hours stood outside our shop, no matter the weather.

Sure, she has lost both of her guns (and most of her hands) over the years, and she has been looking rather pasty lately, but i have always argued in favour of keeping her

The Tomb Raider star seems to be recognised as a sort of landmark in Enfield Town, even people that are unaware of what we sell and may never have ever been into our shop will be able to tell you where to find her

She is easily recognisable and commands your attention, and she has never been too shy to pose for photos with passers-by, and i have not heard her grumble at all about the occasional chest groping she has to deal with occasionally (in fact, i think she may like it)


Others have argued that having Lara Croft stood outside is irrelevant, that she sends the wrong message or that it lowers the tone of the store

So, we are currently trying to gage the reaction, no longer putting her outside when we open up, to see if people miss her at all.

And we have had a couple people ask where she has gone already, she's still with us, she's just taking a well deserved break (and no, she still isn't for sale.... yet)

So, what do you think?

- Glen

Elite trades

At the tail end of last year we were invited to join a new website, elitetrades.com.

Having been approached by a number of directories we were in two minds as to whether we should get involved, but having spoken to Elite Trade's Damien a couple of times on the phone we invited him in for a chat to find out a little bit more.

The premise is quite simple, Elite Trades offer a local directory of professional trades people and businesses that have been researched and vetted before they can be included.  It covers a wide range of trades, offering services that range from emergency plumbing and other essential work, to the home improvement side of things, such as conservatories, swimming pools, and of course, fitted bedrooms, which is where we factor into this.

It didn't need too much consideration to see that this was clearly a good idea, not only for ourselves, but also for the public, to have somewhere trusted to turn to when in need of a trader's services, without having to worry about the countless tales in the media about cowboy builders and rogue traders, and of course it was a privilege to even be considered for their website.

So look no further if you need any of all manner of services attended to, and be sure to check out our own profile here (what a terrible photo, i promise i look better in real life - most days)

And since the foundation of the directory is trust, we would be appreciative if our customers would kindly take a little time to submit their own comments to the website, so that others looking for bedrooms in the future can be assured of the quality of service we offer.

visit Elite Trades here.

- Glen

getting ideas

Although you may not have guessed it from the inactivity on our blog, we have all actually been very busy.


December is the time of year when we are frantically kept on our toes in order to ensure that all deliveries guaranteed to customers for pre-Christmas are in to us in good time and that we can get them straight of our warehouses and into customer's homes before the 25th December.


And January is bargain-hunter's season, when everyone hits the shops looking for a good deal in the sales, and we were no exception as discontinued ranges and floor models were all knocked down in price to make way for our new year's new displays.


Talking of new displays, January is also the month that we descend upon a huge national furniture show looking for inspiration and new suppliers so that we can bring the very best products to our customers.


Next week will most likely be spent conferring with each other as we look over the mound of brochures we have acquired, before placing our orders.


Which should mean that a handful of new displays should be gracing both of our branches by the end of February/mid March.




- Glen