Meet Kaj Maloney | Co-Owner Habitat Home & Garden

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kaj Maloney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaj, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I believe the key to our business/brand’s success is the personal approach we take with our clients. I think a lot of our competitors in the industry treat their client’s as just a number on a spreadsheet and that is the complete opposite of how we think. We don’t market to try and make our customer’s fit the Habitat vision/style, where every client has the same products and the same look. Although we have our own unique style and brand identity, our goal is to empower our clients to express their own unique style and taste through our vast catalog of unique and heirloom quality products. We’re here to serve our clients and provide them a totally unique product and experience and the only way that is possible is if you take the time to get to know your client and understand who they are and what they are trying to accomplish with their home and furnishings.

What should our readers know about your business?
Our business was founded by my uncle, Lars Kieler, thirty years ago, who learned it from his father, my grandfather, Erik Kieler almost sixty years ago. Our family immigrated from Denmark to the United States in the 50s and as a result was always very comfortable travelling the world. One thing led to another and my uncle in his early 30s hopped on a plane and began travelling throughout Europe and Asia. During these travels he became fascinated by all of the handicraft and artisanal design he was witnessing throughout the world, each country/region with it’s own specific skillsets and unique materials. At the time, there was almost no one directly importing these types of artisanal products to the US and that is where our business begins. What was true thirty years ago, is still true today; we explore the world looking for unique handmade products wherever we can find them. While our business has evolved and we’ve layered in more and more product lines, we feel that the importance of highlighting and offering these types of products has only grown over the years. With corporations and big box retailers taking up a larger and large share of the market each year, we feel we are a small, but mighty counter-balance to these large corporations. Our goal is to ensure that our clients always have a place to shop where they can receive a fantastic, high-quality product, but equally important they can express their own unique personality in their purchases and home and not be just another page out of a big-box catalog.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’re starting with a breakfast burrito from Country Kitchen, who also happens to be our next door neighbor in Malibu! Then it’s time for a surf, but you know the code, I can’t say where. Up next would be a drive to Paradise Cove to grab some lunch and relax for a bit. Then back for dinner and drinks at Taverna Tony, the bread and dip is all you need! As for post-dinner nightlife, I’m a hang at the house kind of guy, so I’ll have to leave that for someone else to answer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We’d like to recognize our local communities for the amazing support and appreciation throughout the past 30 years. Our hometown and the location of our first store, San Luis Obispo, CA has had a profound impact on our business and how we run it. We’re so fortunate to live in a small community like “SLO” that still values local business, artisanal products, and the personal service/experience we try and deliver. We always talk about maintaining an “Old School Approach” to how we conduct our business, based on trust, integrity, and quality. We would not be able to continue approaching things in this way if we didn’t have local communities that also value this way of business. As we’ve grown we’ve been able to expand into like-minded cities, Santa Barbara and Malibu, that have maintained their local “know your neighbor” feel. We feel so fortunate to work and provide our products/services to such amazing communities and clients and it effects every decision we make on how we go about our business.

Website: https://habitathomeandgarden.com/

Instagram: @habitathomeandgarden

Image Credits
Shelby Bourne
Andrew Jess