Home improvement chain yesterday showcased an £800,000 refit of its store in Ruislip, with learnings from its newly revamped Aylesford branch, and the introduction of its first Habitat mini store.
The store on Victoria Retail Park, Ruislip, features the 'decorating centre' format debuted at the Ayeslford store, with a 'mix and match wall' and interactive decorating tools, as well as trained staff, to help provide consumers with inspiration and advice for their home projects. The set-up works towards the retailer's aim to be 'first for decorating' and the store presents an overall softer feel leaning more towards home enhancement and finishing touches, than the RMI side of the business.

The refit, which is also being trialled in Homebase stores in Solihull and Newbury, also featured the first Habitat concession since the retailer bought the brand last year. Described as a Habitat mini store, the section features its own shopfront, entrance and signage and is designed to offer customers the full Habitat experience when they enter. There are plans to roll the concession out to the Solihull and Newbury stores, although these will also be trials to see how the Habitat brand fares in different locations.

The refit of the Ruislip store was complete four weeks ago and Homebase is still receiving customer feedback and tweaking the format. However md Paul Loft explained there was potential for 100 stores to benefit from the full refit. There are also plans to carry out smaller-scale low-cost refits of a further 200 stores.