A NATIONAL retailer has sparked rumours of a store opening in Barrow.

DFS has advertised job vacancies for a store manager on its online careers website.

Barrow's Business Improvement District manager Colin Garnett said he had not heard any firm rumours about a DFS store but he had heard the former Sofa Group store in Market Street had been sold.

Elsewhere the former Aldi at Hindpool Retail Park is also vacant.

"I'm not a big fan of out-of-town retail parks as they're one of the issues for the town centre," he said.

"When we plan our town we need to make sure retail parks enhance our town centre, like how Liverpool One works.

"That's right on the edge of the city centre but our retail parks are a bit too far away and on the gateways to the town.

"There are a lot of properties around the Market Street area and you've got a lot of Cornwallis Street properties up for sale.

"I think that would be a great development area and it would put the town hall right at the heart of the town centre rather than on the edge of it but I don't know of any plans for DFS to open in Barrow."

The nearest DFS stores are in Carlisle, Preston and Bolton.

The company's origins date back to 1969 when 24-year-old Graham Kirkham launched the firm above a snooker hall under the name Northern Upholstery.

Having visited a few manufacturers in his daily work, he decided that making furniture was relatively easy and that by cutting out the warehouse dealers in the middle of the supply chain, he could sell direct to the public at lower prices.

The company continued to grow and in 1993 had an estimated value of £271m when it was floated on the stock market.

Kirkham took the chain private again in 2004, leveraging his family's own 9.46 per cent stake with £150 million of family funds in an eventual £496m deal.

DFS recently bought rival firms Sofology and Sofa Workshop.

The Mail has contacted DFS for a comment.