THE rather familiar-sounding Danish homestore ILVA opens off Great Ancoats Street in Piccadilly Basin on September 14, aiming its pitch somewhere between IKEA and Habitat. It's the second store to open in the UK and its city location makes it good news for the bargain-lovers among us who are sick of trekking to Warrington on a bank holiday for some Scandinavian style.

Offering a wide range of furniture and accessories at affordable prices, ILVA puts its eclecticism down to its being `inspired by cultures from around the world' and the 10,000 item strong range features such strange delights as cow-hide floor throws and authentic vine wood tables, with exclusive individual touches like mosquito bites on the hide of some leather items.

ILVA was established in 1974 and, like IKEA, has its roots deep in Scandinavia. It now enjoys the popular prestige of being the second largest furniture and homeware retailer in Denmark.

As well as the wares for sale, we have got a sneak preview of what the Manchester store itself will look like. Stores in Sweden and Denmark have won civic architectural awards and been hailed some of the most beautiful modern buildings in Northern Europe.

So let's talk brass tacks - how does ILVA compare on the price front when it comes to essentials? Well, a bottom-of-the-range three-seater sofa will set you back é470 at ILVA; similar products cost é120 at IKEA and é769 at Habitat. A table lamp costs é28 at ILVA, é13.99 at IKEA and é50 at Habitat.

A double bed frame (wood, no headboard) costs é366 at ILVA, é48 at IKEA and é389 at Habitat. ILVA sits safely in the middle of the two on all counts. But will a nation so obsessed with a bargain forsake the big yellow-and-blue for ILVA's primary coloured capitals?

As we see it, there's a huge advantage to not having to spend the time or petrol money on travelling out of town, and ILVA do stress that they are keen to provide a shopping experience that's vastly different to IKEA's `adventure' warehouse. And don't worry if you can't lug that faux woolly mammoth coffee table back to your bijou city loft flat - ILVA offer both a home delivery and collection service. Will they have a bistro selling meatballs, hotdogs and mini Dime bars though? That's what we want to know.