Made.com’s founder Ning Li is fond of saying that key investor Brent Hoberman likes to encourage the Notting Hill-based management to think big.
But, on first glance, the location of the new showroom in Batley - closest neighbours Dewsbury and Wakefield, some of West Yorkshire's less glamorous towns - may seem like they have been doing everything possible to ignore him.
However, the new outlet is more than in keeping with the company's strategy to give significant portions of the population the chance to see and touch its products should they chose to seek them out. Pureplay internet shopping just isn't enough for many consumers, Li says.
The Notting Hill showroom is on the ninth floor of the same office block which houses its London headquarters. Rent is a fraction of the cost of the same space on the ground floor or on the busy Tottenham Court Road furniture hub but attracts 30,000 people a year - many of them visitors from the North of England making the most of trips to the capital.
Presumably, the theory is that, if people are making the 200 mile trip from Leeds to Notting Hill, they are more than likely prepared to make the 7 mile trip from Leeds to Batley. Not only that, Manchester is 40 minutes drive down the M62 and Sheffield even closer along the M1.
If that weren't enough the Redbrick Mill complex also houses the likes of Heal's, Content By Conran, Bo Concept and Feather & Black among many others making it something of a home furnishings design hub in its own right.
The showrooms allow customers to browse and take home product postcards and colour swatches while doing a great job of raising the company's profile among more design-oriented furniture shoppers.
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