ICL Plc’s personal computer distributor Technology Plc is to expand its West Midlands-based Icon computer superstore into a chain of 20 with regional electricity distributor Norweb Plc. Technology is planning almost national coverage from 20 joint sites with norweb, to capitalise on the small office-home office market. The only places it will exclude will be Scotland and the inner M25 area – and agreements with other firms for these areas will be announced in the next two to three months. The stores, which will sell machines from firms including IBM Corp, ICL, Toshiba Corp and Compaq Computer Corp, will be brand new, measuring roughly 15,000 square feet, with Icon’s operation taking up to 4,000 square feet of that. Technology, which already has an Icon store in Dudley, West Midlands, will open first joint store in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester on March 17. It will open the rest between July and November. Each store is budgeted to turn over 1.5m a year. Steve Saurie, head of ICL operations at Technology, explained that a joint venture was the only way to get a quick profit return. Opening a dedicated superstore can cost 1m to 2m, he said: Doing it as a joint venture will cut costs. He expects profits from the stores within the first year. The Dudley store will become the training store for the 140 staff the firm hopes to recruit. Technology bought Icon out of receivership in August last year (CI No 2,223). The store within a store concept is already operated by IBM dealer Firststop within the Officeworld chain of office equipment stores (CI No 2,240).
