Habitat to find a new home
Within two months Habitat, the furniture and housing equipment retailer, may be operating again in Greece. Its UK-based parent company is negotiating with Athens-listed firm Yalco-Constantinou about the possibility of operating Habitat in a new format. Free from the burdens of its previous owners, Habitat will take the form of a shop-in-shop within department stores, rather than as a chain of independent outlets, at least at the beginning. Yalco-Constantinou is planning to supplement its own Omnishop chain of 47 stores in Greece with Habitat products, with special corners at department stores such as Notos Galleries Home, Hondos Center and even Germanos to follow. The Greek firm intends to increase the Omnishop chain to 70 outlets by 2010, but recognizes that the Habitat brand image has declined considerably among local consumers due to its previous owner’s bankruptcy nine months ago.
