Thingmebobs was acquired by QD in January 2013 and now the value retail store operator has opened its first store under the brand in Swaffham, Norfolk. 

The Range looks set to take over another Homebase store, this time in Loughborough. 

Independent housewares store Lawsons of Plymouth is celebrating 110 years of trading in the city this year. 

Exhibitors at last week's Exclusively Housewares say they were impressed by the quality of visitors at the show, which came from a broad spectrum of retail businesses. 

UK shower designer and manufacturer Roman has become a member of the British Contract Furnishing Association (BCFA). 

The number of businesses going under has reached a five-year high, with 1,287 businesses made insolvent in England, Scotland and Wales last year. 

A 5p charge for carrier bags will be introduced in England next year, but the British Retail Consortium says this will cause confusion for customers. 

High streets and shopping centres are losing out to retail parks, which are capitalising on the attractiveness of homewares as house prices continue to rise. 

The industry has welcomed the introduction of the Green Heart, which is a new exhibition at Glee and will see growers and nurseries showing their latest ranges. 

After a successful trial in three garden centres last year, Bonmarché will open a further 15 to 20 concession stores this year. 

Shopworkers union Usdaw is calling for a reform of insolvency regulations, saying that administrators at Deloitte "deliberately flouted the law" when handling the collapse of Comet. 

A man who stole £58,000 from the Nottinghamshire garden centre and swimming pool business where he worked is now behind bars. 

DKB Household has revealed that one of its brands, Cole & Mason, has been awarded CoolBrands status 2014/15. 

Independent retailers that work together can end up enjoying a significant boost to their sales. 

In the first full year Net Positive report, Kingfisher boss Sir Ian Cheshire says that steady progress has been made in reaching 2020 targets. 

European company Soudal has continued with its plan to become a global player in the adhesives and sealants market by acquiring Accumetric. 

New to 2014 retailers looking to expand their knowledge of the garden market can attend a three-day Glee pre-event study tour. 

After teaming up with Papua New Guinea rugby league legend Stanley Gene, Bond It donated thousands of rugby shirts to young people in the Simbu province. 

The rain didn't stop 96 keen golfers from taking part in this year's Garden Industry Manufacturers' Association's charity golf day. 

Homebase and Argos both enjoyed good like-for-like sales growth in this year's first quarter, boosted by strong demand for seasonal lines.