Using menu item settings for category

Hi,

I'm sorry if this has already been asked and answered, but I couldn't find anything at all in searching.

I have a site that I'm building which has a category listing page, then each of the top level sub categories has it's own menu item set up with custom settings for the layout.

The 'Categories listing' page doesn't pick up those menu items and when you click the link shows those subcategories in a standard layout.

There are a number of non-hikashop options for managing this, with menu item aliases, etc or individual modules, but it would be nice to have it fully automated.

I know it's not necessarily straightforward with the flexibility built in to hikashop, if it'snot currently possible, perhaps adding an option to categories enabling admins to associate a Joomla menu item with the category, so that all links generated to that category would use that menu item instead, if it was set and continue as it does now if it's not?

If there is a way to achieve it now, please help )

Cheers

Keith