I can't stop thinking how sad it is that Habitat is closing most of it's stores. It feels like the end of an era to me as I was a 70s child whose parents loved Habitat and thought it was the height of good design. I grew up with it and have always loved the simplicity and boldness of it's design. My parents had a bright green chrome armed sofa and those wicker chairs that bounced. We had Habitat brightly coloured lampshades and ice buckets and a few thick plastic coat hooks. I had this 70s catalogue on my shelf and flicking through the pages, feel it was really ahead of it's time and totally got away from chintz and florals. I still love many items in this catalogue and would still give them house space. (And can recognize a few actually in our home!) Even the children's toy sections were exciting and tasteful. This is the first time I've ever felt sad at a shop's closure. Does anyone else feel this too?
15 comments:
wow, habitat is closing most of it's shops? that's sad. i have a few habitat items that i bought during my trips to europe. it was a shop i looked forward to visiting.
Very sad- I don't buy much new house stuff, most of it is carboot sale stuff but I do buy from Habitat. The lighting, bedding and Christmas decorations are the things I will miss the most. Have wandered round the Exeter branch feeling glum
Yes,I love the Christmas decorations and wrapping paper!!
Gosh I think I recognise that catalogue is so nostalgic...
I grew up in a houseful of habitat too!
It really is a shame. I too grew up with parents who appreciated Habitat and it was a dream come true when they sold my artwork a few years ago. Habitat was my main reason for visiting Exeter - it'll certainly feel like a sad lose of an iconic British shop!
Yes, very sad... and I think it's probably largely due to the fact that they never had a very good online presence and their shops are often in places where it is tricky to carry things back to the car! And Ikea! But I will miss their sales for sure...
oh dear! i love habitat!
It's the end of an era. It's the first store I got to know as a young adult when wanting stylish affordable pieces and still was the first place I thought of when needed things for the house. It really is very sad that a store of this reputation and calibre couldn't weather these times ;-(
Very sad! It's one of my favorite shops to visit in London. The very first piece of furniture that I bought for myself is from Habitat – a director's chair that saw me through my time as a design student. I've still got it and use it, 20 years on :-)
It's a disaster that Habitat is closing down. It will leave a big hole in the market for good homeware design. It has always been a breath of fresh air, and reliably good quality. I'll especially miss the picture frames- such a good buy. By the way, I have that same 70's catalogue!!
I am sad too :o( but they are keeping the London stores!
Absolutely, our store closed a while back and there has been a shopping void for a lot of people. Was always a great store to get presents, we really missed it at Christmas. Infact I had to put a call out on Facebook to anyone who was passing in a different county to pick me up a pack of your postcards!
Really sad. Where now to go now? I'm hoping their online shop will keep going, but it's not the same as browsing good mid price range design...especially here in the South west.(Trago just ain't the same!)
yes! I had the same childhood experience of my parents 'chucking out the chinz' in the '70s and spent happy times in the Bromley branch of Habitat, we even had a chicken brick (used once if I remember correctly!).
I totally feel the same: out here in the wilds it'll be sorely missed. (I did a blog post about it too)
Luckily, I travel to That London regularly, so I'll get my fix there.
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