Allied Carpets

Allied Carpets Group plc

Type	Private
Industry	Retail trade
Founded	1950s (Birmingham)
Headquarters	Birmingham, United Kingdom
Number of locations	8 (2015)
Area served	United Kingdom
Products	Carpets
Number of employees	41
Website	Allied Carpets

Allied Carpets is a small retail chain specialising in floor coverings in the United Kingdom.

It was formed by Harold Plotnek on market stalls Birmingham in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, a warehouse was opened in Birmingham. In the early 1970s he joined with Leon Fisher George Morris and Mayer Myers each of whom operated independent carpet stores and they came together under the name Allied Carpets. The Company floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1971. It was the first carpet retailer to open very large stores on busy main roads, often after re-developing former car showrooms. Previously carpet stores were small and only had sample books to show. Allied's difference was that they were large with rolls of carpet stocked in the stores and large stocks at a central warehouse, enabling them to supply almost instantly. Beds were introduced in 1972 with a dedicated bedding store in Birmingham. In 1973 with over 20 large stores throughout the country, Allied took over Williams Furniture, a high street chain with over 80 stores. To facilitate rapid expansion, in 1974, a head office and major distribution centre was opened in West Bromwich. In 1978, it was bought by the Asda Group. In 1980, curtains were introduced. In 1985, the company was rebranded as just Allied. A Contracts Division and an Insurance Replacement Division were started in that year, and upholstery products were first sold. By 1989, the company had over 180 shops and the company changed its name to the Allied Maples Group Ltd.

At the height of its powers, the chain had a large cultural currency in Great Britain. It was alluded to in Reeves and Mortimer's comedy song 'My Rose Has Left Me' and in One Foot in the Grave, in which the protagonist expressed his desire to have his ashes scattered in a branch of Allied Carpets to register his dissatisfaction with its customer service. A customer's attempt to enact a similar request was dismissed by the High Court in 1997.

In December 1993, it was sold by the Asda Group to Carpetland. Carpetland traded as Carpetland Carpet Centres Ltd, and had financially collapsed in 1990 then had a management buyout in August 1991 which resulted in the company having 85 stores. At the time of the Allied sale, it had about half as many stores as Allied. The company after the sale had about 250 stores. The Allied head office in West Bromwich was closed in March 1994. The company's name was changed from Carpetland to Allied Carpets. The upholstery part of the company was closed and it just sold carpets.