A HUGE homeware brand is set to disappear from the high street forever.
Habitat is closing its three remaining standalone stores.
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Three shops in Brighton, Leeds and White City’s Westfield will close permanently.
The retailer hasn’t confirmed the exact date for when the stores will shut but they’re expected to disappear for good in July.
Sainsbury’s which owns the homeware brand has said that it will be looking to redeploy all affected shop staff within its own supermarkets or Argos stores.
But the Habit brand isn’t disappearing and shoppers will still be able to buy the retailer’s products online and in Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
A Habitat spokesperson said: “In 2020 we reviewed our Habitat stores and took the decision to close some and retain three as showrooms.
“Since then, customers have increasingly been shopping for Habitat products online and within Sainsbury’s stores, meaning the showrooms have been less popular.
“As a result, we are talking to a very small number of colleagues about the difficult decision to close all three showrooms in July.
“We have not made this decision lightly and we appreciate it will be unsettling for those affected.”
Habitat closed its flagship Tottenham Court Road and Finchley Road stores in 2021.
At the time, the brand relaunched its three stores in Brighton, Leeds and White City Westfield as showrooms.
The showrooms were set up so customers could place orders and build their own shopping baskets online.
Habitat was founded by Terence Conran in 1964 and at its peak in the 2010s operated dozens of concessions on top of its portfolio of standalone stores.
The brand operated 84 concessions in Homebase between October 2012 and September 2016 when it was under Home Retail Group ownership.
But these closed when both Habitat and Argos were acquired by Sainsbury’s in 2016 as part of a £1.4billion takeover.
Between 2016 and 2020, smaller Habitat concessions operated in 11 Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
Habitat’s sister brand Argos, which is also owned by Sainsbury’s, is also closing dozens of stores this year.
Argos will shut all 34 stores in the Republic of Ireland on June 24.
The brand is also closing standalone stores in the UK later this summer.
The Argos in Cardiff Bay is set to close in July and the Hull, St Stephens store will close in August.
Newport’s Argos will also close later in the summer but a date has yet to be confirmed.
The retailer is moving away from the high street and expanding its presence in supermarkets, with concessions inside branches.
It follows a particularly tumultuous time for UK high streets with several popular chains including M&Co and Paperchase closing all stores in 2023.
Retailers have been feeling the pinch since the pandemic while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to soaring inflation.
High energy costs and a shift to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
