Posted on October 24, 2017 by EPR Retail News Editors

Habitat to open four new Mini Habitat stores within Sainsbury’s supermarkets by mid-November 2017

Interiors brand to open four further Mini Habitat concession stores in Sainsbury’s by mid-November

LONDON, 2017-Oct-24 — /EPR Retail News/ — Habitat is to launch four further new Mini Habitat stores by mid-November 2017. New Mini Habitat stores within Sainsbury’s supermarkets will open in York (Monk’s Cross), Manchester (Cheadle), Newcastle (Heaton) and London (Wandsworth), taking the total to ten.

The 2,000sqft stores will follow the same footprint as the brand’s six current Mini store-in-store formats as Habitat looks to create a network of regional touchpoint stores to help support its multi-channel growth strategy. With over 60% of sales now being made online through the www.habitat.co.uk website, further investment in smaller footprint concession formats is aimed at expanding Habitat’s brand awareness with Sainsbury’s customers as well as helping to increase online shopper confidence by allowing customers to ‘touch and feel’ the quality of the products in convenient store locations.

Each Mini Habitat store will showcase an edited range of over 600 products, all designed by the Habitat design team in London, with a range of price points across furniture, upholstery, lighting, homewares and textiles. Customers will be encouraged to touch and feel products on display as well as browse the habitat.co.uk website on integrated in-store digital screens and iPads that allow them to access the full product portfolio of over 4,500 products. Dedicated Habitat staff will also be in-store to explain product features and highlight additional product options online that can be ordered for home delivery or Click & Collect from over 2000 locations in the UK.

Clare Askem, Managing Director of Habitat, said: “We’ve learnt lots of lessons from our six trial Mini stores in Sainsbury’s this year and these have been addressed in our upcoming store openings. We’ve refined our product range based on customer feedback, while our in-store visual merchandising and service proposition has been adapted to what customers want on a ‘weekly shop’ basis.”

“Our customers increasingly want choice, flexibility and speed and we are evolving the brand into a truly multi-channel business that allows customers to shop how and when they want – be that online, in-store or a combination of the two.”

Habitat’s digital sales are showing strong growth – over 60% of sales now come from habitat.co.uk and it is increasing its digital services, having recently launched Click & Collect, where customers can pick up over 3,000 small homeware products from over 2,000 Sainsbury’s locations at a time that suits them.

Askem continued: “We believe physical stores will remain important to Habitat which is why we are evolving our store offer and rolling it out to four further shops.“

Mini Habitat in Sainsbury’s Monks Cross, York launches 25 October 2017

Mini Habitat in Sainsbury’s Cheadle, Manchester launches 1 November 2017

Mini Habitat in Sainsbury’s Newcastle Heaton, Newcastle launches 8 November 2017

Mini Habitat in Sainsbury’s Wandsworth, London launches 15 November 2017

SOURCE: Sainsbury’s

PRESS CONTACT
press_office@sainsburys.co.uk or call 0207 695 7295.

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Retail News Editor

Sainsbury’s to introduce Argos digital concessions in its stores by Christmas

London, 2016-Sep-06 — /EPR Retail News/ — Following its recent acquisition of Home Retail Group plc, owner of Argos and Habitat, Sainsbury’s will introduce Argos digital concessions to more than 20 additional stores by Christmas, bringing the total number of Argos concessions to over 30.

30 Argos digital stores to be open in Sainsbury’s stores by Christmas
Five Mini Habitat stores planned to open in Sainsbury’s stores
Customers can shop across three high street brands and over 90,000 products in one store
195,000 colleagues now work for Sainsbury’s following its acquisition of Home Retail Group plc, owner of Argos and Habitat

Argos digital stores within Sainsbury’s supermarkets gives customers access to over 90,000 products under one roof, as the combination of Sainsbury’s and Argos creates one of the UK’s leading food and non-food retailers.

The Argos digital stores will offer customers a choice to either buy instantly in-store via tablets, or to reserve online for easy same-day collection. The Argos digital stores in Sainsbury’s will range in size from around 1,000 to over 5,000 square feet.

Sainsbury’s will also introduce five Mini Habitat concessions within Sainsbury’s stores over the coming months. These concessions, which will range from 1,400 to 2,000 square feet in size, will sit alongside and complement Sainsbury’s own homeware and cookware ranges. Building on its reputation for affordable, well designed products for the home, Mini Habitat stores will include over 600 products – all designed in-house by the Habitat design team in London – with a range of price points across furniture, upholstery, lighting, homewares and textiles.

Mike Coupe, Chief Executive of J Sainsbury plc, said: “This is the start of an exciting new phase for Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat. I am delighted to be able to quickly capitalize on the benefits of our combined group by opening more Argos digital concessions in our stores and introducing the Mini Habitat format to our customers. Being able to shop across all three brands under one roof will make our customers’ lives even more convenient and offer them incredible choice.”

John Rogers, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s Argos, said: “Argos is one of the UK’s leading digital retailers. We know customers value the convenience of shopping for Argos products whenever and wherever they want and we are pleased to be quickly rolling out twenty more digital concessions in Sainsbury’s stores before Christmas. Habitat is a fantastic brand and we know customers will value the opportunity to shop the stylish ranges in Sainsbury’s stores.”

Clare Askem, Managing Director of Habitat, said: “Sainsbury’s offers the Habitat brand significant growth potential. We’ve seen our brand evolve rapidly over the last few years and the opportunity to create a network of local stores to support our multi-channel business strategy is a really exciting prospect. I’m confident that our brand will connect with Sainsbury’s shoppers and make Habitat more accessible to shoppers both on the high street and online.”

For more information on the acquisition please click here.

Press Enquiries please contact: press_office@sainsburys.co.uk or call 020 7695 7295.

Source: Sainsbury

Posted on March 10, 2015 by EPR Retail News Editors

Habitat returns to the Irish high street at Argos

Milton Keynes, UK, 2015-3-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Habitat is set to make a return to the Irish high street as Argos announces that it will be stocking the brand for the very first time both online and in-store, making it more accessible to Irish shoppers than ever before.

Customers can now access 200 seasonal and best-selling products from the Habitat collection of affordable furniture and homewares on www.argos.ie, in advance of the range being launched in the Argos Autumn/Winter 2015 catalogue this coming July. Products can be reserved online for free with instant pick up from 40 Argos stores throughout the Republic of Ireland.

Andy McClelland, Operations Manager, Argos Republic of Ireland, said “We’re delighted to be able to broaden our product ranges here in Argos and bring on board even more great brands – such as Habitat – which our customers know and want. Habitat is a well-established furniture and homewares brand and we are pleased to be able to offer our Irish customers convenient, nationwide access to a range of new, quality Habitat products later this year.”

“We’re delighted to be making the Habitat brand more accessible to Irish customers through our relationship with Argos,” comments Clare Askem, Managing Director of Habitat. “Now everyone who wants to own a piece of Habitat can easily and quickly find our products on the high street from our iconic designs to new season collections.”

Famous for its forward thinking approach to design, Habitat has been designing products in-house for over 50 years with a collection of cleverly crafted and affordably priced products that are anything but the norm. New Habitat products which are now available from argos.ie include:

About Habitat
For fifty years we’ve has been imaging life as it should be. Since our revolutionary beginnings in 1964 we’ve made outstanding design accessible to all by bringing enduring, inventive and affordable products to the high street. Today alongside our three flagships and habitat.co.uk, we have 35 new Mini Habitat stores within Homebase branches nationwide in the UK and will be rolling out more throughout 2015. You’ll also find our Habitat products are available in Argos stores, argos.co.uk and now argos.ie. Habitat was acquired by Home Retail Group in 2011 under the leadership of current Managing Director, Clare Askem, and the in-house design studio has been under the guidance of Creative Director, Polly Dickens, since 2012.

About Argos
Argos is Ireland’s leading general merchandise retailer and provides a unique offer of choice and convenience. It sells general merchandise and products for the home from 40 stores in the Republic of Ireland. Argos opened its first stores in the Republic in January 1996 in Limerick and Dublin; there is now an Argos catalogue in approximately three quarters of all Irish homes. Argos is already one of the largest retail employers in the country with around 1,500 employees. In 2005, Argos launched its Irish website, www.argos.ie, which now has over 20,000 products online. Argos is part of Home Retail Group, the UK’s leading home and general merchandise retailer.

We’re happy to help with journalists’ queries. For media enquiries, product samples and loans, please contact:

Argos:
t: 0845 120 4365
e: media.relations@argos.co.uk

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Habitat returns to the Irish high street at Argos