Habitat is (almost) back in business in the Republic

If ever there was a sign that the green shoots of recovery have turned into sturdy saplings it came with the announcement that Habitat is back in business - sort of.

Argos announced this morning that it will be stocking 200 seasonal and best-selling products from the Habitat collection for the first time both online and in-store from this summer.

“We’re delighted to be making the Habitat brand more accessible to Irish customers ,” said Habitat managing director Clare Askem. “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.”

For some people, the return of Habitat will be welcome. For others, it will be a reminder of when things started to go pear-shaped.

Financial gravity

In May 2008, unsuspecting Irish consumers were first alerted to the financial gravity of the crisis thundering down tracks when the comparatively high-end home decor shop, which operated in Ireland as a franchise, announced it was closing the doors on its shops in Dublin and Galway.

Many were left with suddenly worthless vouchers.

The Liveline lines were hopping for days with Joe Duffy becoming increasingly irate until eventually the parent company in the UK stepped in. It agreed to honour at least some of the millions of euro worth of vouchers - once the holders could work out a way to spend them in a different jurisdiction.

Some eight weeks later the furniture store threw their doors open for a closing-down sale that drew thousands of bargain-hunters although voucher holders were not welcome.

Before the doors opened at its branch on Dublin’s College there were more than 300 people counted in the queue, with some people waiting longer than an hour before they could get in to the shop.

Irish appetite

Such queues outside Argos are unlikely this time round and it remains to be seen if the Irish appetite for the retailer will be quite as voracious as it once was not least because in the time that it was away, a somewhat well known - and considerably cheaper - retailer from Sweden has made something of an impression here.