Habitat Wythenshawe

Habitat Wythenshawe was a furniture store on Southmoor Road in Baguley, Manchester. It opened in 1977 and closed down in 2011, having served the local community for 34 years.

History

Lease

In February 1977, Habitat Designs secured a lease from Jordan Impey for a 38,000 square foot plot on Southmoor Road. The plot had previously been used as a car showroom and store. A lease was agreed for 35 years (until 2012), with a rental review set to take place every five years. At the time, Habitat Designs intended to use 12,000 square foot of the plot for their furniture store, with the remaining 26,000 square foot being a warehouse for distribution to other Habitat stores in the north of England.^[1]

Opening

Habitat Wythenshawe opened on 11th March 1977, becoming the first "take-away" Habitat store in the country. It allowed customers to immediately take their purchased furniture instead of waiting for it to be delivered.^[2]

Habitat invested heavily in advertising the new store, paying for an illustrative full-page advert with the Manchester Evening News numerous times. The advert showed a site plan, promoting the extraordinary features such as the play centre, cafe, van hire and delivery service.^[3][4]

Closure

The Habitat brand entered administration on 24th June 2011,^[5] resulting in the closure of Habitat Wythenshawe. The site would later become JD Gyms Wythenshawe.

Sources

1. Manchester Evening News, 22nd February 1977, Page 22. ↩
2. Manchester Evening News, 11th March 1977, Page 20. ↩
3. Manchester Evening News, 10th March 1977, Page 9. ↩
4. Manchester Evening News, 18th March 1977, Page 15. ↩
5. Habitat stores enter administration as part of sale, BBC News, 24th June 2011, accessed 7th February 2026. ↩