Sainsbury’s has disclosed further details of Habitat store closures and its plan to have the brand headline its home and furniture offer, selling through Sainsbury’s and Argos from January.
Habitat’s flagship Tottenham Court Road and Finchley Road stores will close next year, while the stores in Westfield, Brighton and Leeds will relaunch as showrooms – where customers will be able to place orders and build their own shopping baskets online – in the spring. Those locations will also trial video appointments, enabling Habitat to "bring the benefits of the showroom experience to the comfort of peoples’ homes".
The transition from the current Sainsbury’s Home and Argos Home offering to Habitat will begin with the launch of the Spring/Summer 2021 collection, and be fully integrated as Habitat by next autumn. The retailer aims to combine "the credibility and design expertise of the Habitat brand, with the scale and capability of Sainsbury’s and Argos", offering customers greater access to well-designed, affordable home products, expanding the homewares range while making larger pieces of furniture available.
Rona Olds, head of product for home and furniture, says: “We are excited to bring Habitat’s authenticity and identity to a wider audience across the UK, making it available to everyone on a larger scale so that more customers than ever will have access to well-designed homeware and furniture. As shopping habits evolve and our environments change, we have harnessed the brand’s unique heritage - keeping quality and excellent design at its core - while bringing it into the future of British retail.”
Andrew Tanner, home design manager, adds: “Our aim is to fly the flag of British design with thoughtful and functional homewares and furniture. Our talented design team comprises experts in their own fields, from ceramicists to upholstery specialists, who will not only celebrate the brand’s rich archive of design but also introduce Habitat to the next generation of customers. We will be innovating homewares and finding solutions for how we all live our lives today, and continue to develop new and flexible collections to bring Habitat into homes all over the country.”
