Ikea pickup outlet to open soon but a full store may be on the horizon

[MolsonExport]

Ikea pickup outlet to open soon but a full store may be on the horizon

Ikea fans in the London area will get their early Christmas present in about a month as a “pickup” outlet opens in south London.

But the big prize, a full Ikea store, may finally be on the horizon as the giant Swedish furnishing chain says it will expand to 24 stores in Canada from 12 in the next decade.

The Ikea bricks-and-mortar expansion comes at a time when other retail chains are contracting, most recently with the closing of Future Shop stores.

Ikea Canada president Stefan Sjöstrand told the Toronto Board of Trade last week that the company’s online sales and traditional stores complement each other.

“We know that when customers come to our stores they want to get inspired.”

Sjöstrand said Ikea also will move to new store formats but wouldn’t say if they would be smaller than the current, that average 323,000 square feet.

Ikea Canada spokesperson Tanya Bevington said an announcement about the locations of the new stores may be made soon.

“We will look at existing cities, new cities, existing store formats, new store formats. Stay tuned, we will have more information in the new year.”

Having a pickup outlet in the city will not exclude London from consideration for a new store, Bevington said.

Read more here: http://www.lfpress.com/2015/11/09/ikea-pickup-store-opening-london-location-in-december