FLAT-PACK FURNITURE GIANT Ikea is reworking its retail format, adding small centrally-located outlets to its network of big-box stores.
The Swedish company plans to open its first order-and-collect store in the UK at Norwich in autumn after trialling a similar format in Pamplona, Spain, as well as in Finland and Norway.
The outlet will be less than 10% the size of a traditional Ikea store and will be located in a retail park not far outside the city centre.
Ikea will explore slightly different order-and-collection-point formats in selected markets, using this as an opportunity to find out more about how customers want to shop with Ikea in these areas,” the company said.
The Telegraph reported the chain planned to open two more, small stores within a year and it was considering at a high-street location.
Easier access
The store will work as a “planning studio” – where customers can get advice and test products – and will also have a café, complete with the chain’s famous meatballs.
Ikea said the change was part of a plan to make its stores “more accessible”. It currently operates 315 stores in 26 countries, including a single Irish outlet at Ballymun in Dublin.
The company recently announced it planned to expand its online sales service to include home deliveries in all the countries where it had stores. Definitely no more hide-and-seek games in Ikea then.
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