Ikea says it wants to ‘be closer’ to customers in Cheshire, Essex, and Norfolk this year.
The chain will convert former Homebase branches in Chester, Harlow and Norwich to be closer to where customers live, work, socialise and do their daily or weekly shopping.’
It says it hopes to reopen the sites on the Greyhound Retail Park, Chester; Harlow Retail Park, Harlow and Hall Road Retail Park, Norwich this year.
The stores will offer a range of up to 5,000 products on display, with up to 3,000 available for immediate purchase with the remainder available online. The branches offer click and collect and design services. Fod will be on offer, but only as take-away.
‘We know many people want to shop with IKEA but in some instances we are just too far away. That’s why we are strategically expanding our UK footprint, with the aim of showing up in convenient, accessible locations for our customers. Centrally located in retail parks, our three new stores mark a major step forward in our expansion plan, making it easier than ever for customers in these areas to shop with us,’ says Peter Jelkeby, IKEA UK and Ireland ceo.
‘Harlow, Chester and Norwich have long been areas of interest to us, and we’re looking forward to bringing the very best of the IKEA experience in a refreshingly compact format to these communities later this year.’
The chain’s Oxford Street, London store will open on 1 May followed by its Brighton city centre store. -for which it has begun recruiting staff. The five opening will see the chain increase its UK presence to 30 outlets: 21 existing branches; the forthcoming Oxford Street, Brighton, Harlow, Chester and Norwich stores; an order and collection point in Aberdeen and three plan and order points in Aintree, Preston and Stockport. Consumers can also collect orders from selected Tesco supermarkets’ car parks.
