Talking Property

We loved Habitat but Dunnes and Ikea are cheaper, says Isabel Morton

FAREWELL TO Habitat, the store that brought us retro, fun and funky design. The announcement last weekend that the Dublin and Galway stores had closed without so much as a last 75 per cent off sale certainly shocked the chattering classes.

If they needed a sign that ALL IS NOT WELL in the economy, then this was it. Still, those who were deeply shocked by the closure might have asked themselves when was the last time they bought something at Habitat. The answer might have been, not for a long time.

I remember shopping in Terence Conran's first Habitat in London years ago and being fascinated with its cool range of products. I struggled back home to Dublin with a wok, a steamer, a fondue set and a thousand tea lights, not caring that they took up my entire suitcase. The wok had a rounded bottom that wouldn't sit straight on my electric hob, I didn't know quite what to steam in the steamer, but it looked cool, so it sat on a shelf for years and I drove my friends insane having fondue parties, which they thought was cheating, as they had to cook their own meal.

The only things that were put to good use were the tea lights, which everyone admired to the extent that they somehow mysteriously disappeared, one by one.

I loved the shop when it came to St Stephen's Green - and used to brave the disconcerting flight of curved stairs to have a quick lunch in its upstairs café overlooking the park. It stocked cookbooks that you couldn't buy anywhere else and I would buy one and read it over a cappuccino - rare too at the time. It had an edgy New York feel to it, that café, and then you could stroll off around the trendy bed and bath department.

Habitat never stocked anything of particularly good quality, but it did do retro chic, acceptable ethnic, and attractive eco-style items. And while prices were not cheap, they were not exorbitant either.

I bought a pair of ready-made Habitat curtains, made of a double layer of voile, one red and one orange. I thought they looked so ethnic and exotic and promptly decorated a bedroom around them, in an Indian theme. The resulting red/orange haze gave the room a brothel-like quality. The sun then bleached out the dramatic bright colours and they ended up looking like dirty old nets.

We all loved Habitat for a while, but the novelty wore off a bit when we discovered how long it took for deliveries to arrive. The streamlined sofa that was ordered and paid for up front, invariably failed to arrive when it was expected. Tables came with chipped tops and broken legs.

And now that it has closed its doors, customers who are waiting for deliveries, may get nothing at all. Those who have been trying to contact the company but without success have had no option but to call Joe Duffy instead. Will they get their velvet armchairs or glass tables delivered, or their money back? Yes, according to the UK parent company which yesterday promised to honour peoples' orders and vouchers.

Habitat's website says it deeply regrets the closing of the stores in Dublin and Galway due to the downturn in their sales which made it "impossible to trade through the subsequent financial difficulties, particularly in light of the current economic environment".

Who exactly is Habitat blaming for its lack of success in Ireland? I suspect that its financial difficulties started quite some time ago, and came about because we no longer wanted to buy its goods.

We stopped buying when the company's solid core of well designed - though not necessarily well made - furniture and kitchenware gave way to a sea of twinkling fairy lights and wobbly metal patio sets. Instead of classic design we got witty design - good for a season on the apartment balcony.

Trouble was, we could find very similar items in numerous shops around the country, and at half the price. We no longer craved the funky designer look, because it was available everywhere including Dunnes Stores, Argos and Ikea.

Habitat's designer prices were no longer acceptable when similar items could be bought from the supermarket. The laid back service didn't help either, nor the fact that there was zero car-parking nearby.

Why did it not react faster and rectify the situation? I can only surmise that Ireland will not be the only country to see Habitat suddenly close its doors without warning, as it did here last week.

Its move from the Green at the top of Grafton Street, to Suffolk Street at the bottom of Grafton Street, less than three years ago, was well publicised and its new location seemed to be equally ideal. But quite obviously it was not. In some cases it's just not just all about location.