Posted: Friday, August 20, 2010 4:54 pm

A starring spot on Coronation Street has led to a "business boom" for Cousins Furniture, as fans of the show flocked to the retailer's stores in Manchester and Birmingham last weekend.

All three stores, in Dudley, Tyseley and Salford, were "flooded" by Coronation Street viewers after the company's
Salford store was featured in Wednesday and Thursday episodes, according to a spokesperson for the store.

The Salford store was used by Coronation Street to film one of soap's characters masquerading as a member of the staff in a furniture store.

Cousins managing director Robert Shotton, a self-confessed "lifelong Coronation Street fan", said the filming had not only been good fun, it had also been very good for business.

"Featuring on Coronation Street has been a brilliant opportunity for all three stores, as since the episodes aired and a Coronation Street fan site revealed where they were filmed, hundreds of fans have visited all three stores," he said.

"We've seen a real uplift in sales as a result, not just from fans who have come in and spent thousands but from the cast and crew who filmed at the store and used the opportunity to do some shopping.

"It was also a dream come true for me as I am a huge Coronation Street fan and rarely miss an episode."

The biggest item sold this weekend was a Tokyo sofa corner unit, which retails for £6,000 and featured in several scenes in both episodes, according to Mr Shotton.

Cousins, which was established 25 years ago by Mr Shotton and his cousins William and Edward, has a long term connection with Coronation Street, as Jack and Vera Duckworth opened the Dudley store in 1976 and Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) and Frankie Baldwin (Debra Stephenson) opened the Manchester store in 2005.

Cousins is a family-run business which launched in Tyesley in Birmingham in 1985 with 15 staff. It now has three stores in Manchester and the West Midlands employing 140 staff with a multi million pound turnover.

For more information, visit www.cousinsfurniture.co.uk.