Ikea has abandoned its plans to open a superstore in West Sussex, saying shopping habits had changed. The decision is likely to herald the end of new superstores as it looks to online and city-based showrooms.
‘This has not been an easy decision to make. Today, we are operating in an incredibly fast-changing retail environment and customer shopping habits aren’t as they once were. Although we know that there is great potential in Sussex, we no longer believe that an Ikea store on the outskirts of Lancing is the optimum way to reach customers in the region. We understand this news may disappoint some and we remain committed to serving customers in Lancing in the best possible way, through both our online offer and home delivery service, as well as our remote selling and planning facilities,’ says Richard Rands, Ikea UK & Ireland market expansion manager.
The chain says it is committed to growth in the UK and ‘continues to put all its energy into its existing stores, investing in its online offer and exploring new formats’.
In recent years the chain has opened a series of small city centre showrooms that consumers cannot make purchases at.
It says it will sell the land on which the store was to be built.
Plans for the store and 600 homes were announced in 2016 and planning permission was granted in 2018, with construction on the development starting in 2020.
Local residents were split over the decision. ‘People have been shopping online because they have had to, but not now. For something important and long-lasting like furniture I would want to see what I’m buying in person, and also try it out for size and comfort if it’s a chair or bed,’ says one. ‘That’s a shame, lots of people would of benefited from jobs,’ says another while a third spoke of the issue that had caused the most objection during the planning process: traffic on the already very busy A27: ‘Disappointed, but I don’t think the roads could have coped with the amount of traffic it would have generated.’
