Exciting news for IKEA fans! The Swedish flatpack furniture giant is opening its first mini store on Tottenham Court Road, London in the autumn. In a bid to bring IKEA to the British high street, the new branch will focus on kitchens and wardrobes, designed for shoppers planning their dream kitchens and bedrooms on a budget. It will offer the brand's capsule collection, rather than sell the full range of homeware.
But, being limited on space on the high street, the mini store will not have room for cafés or restaurants like IKEA's bigger, out-of-town stores. Alas, that means no Swedish meatballs or cinnamon buns!
The mini store will focus on bedrooms and kitchens
IKEA UK and Ireland Country retail manager, Javier Quiñones, said: "The opening of this new city centre shop marks an exciting development for the IKEA business as we continue to innovate and transform to better meet the needs of our customers. We are proud that London is the first city globally to pilot this concept, as we aim to be more accessible and bring IKEA closer to many more people."
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© Photo: Getty ImagesUnlike the larger stores, the central London branch will not have a restaurant or café
He continued: "Our new city centre approach brings IKEA into the heart of London and is designed to complement our larger stores and digital offering, so customers have a wide range of choices that suit their needs and lifestyles." The Tottenham Court Road shop will "give Londoners a relaxed and professional experience in which to plan more complex or large-scale projects in the home," he added. Plans to open a 24-hour delivery service, to meet demand from online shoppers and fight competition from sites like Amazon, were also unveiled.
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There are currently 21 IKEA stores across the UK, plus four order and collection points in Aberdeen, Birmingham, Norwich and Westfield Stratford City. While the big stores take three to four years to develop and open, these new mini stores could be open within six months. At the moment, IKEA is prioritising London as a first stop to explore their city centre approach; nothing is planned for outside the capital just yet.
