Ikea Opens New Store on London’s Oxford Street in Bid to Attract City-Dwelling Customers
In a strategic move to expand beyond its traditional out-of-town warehouse model, Ikea is set to open a new store on London’s Oxford Street. The Swedish furniture retailer aims to make its brand more "accessible" to city-dwelling customers, according to Peter Jelkeby, UK boss of Ikea. The new store, located in a Grade II listed building formerly occupied by Topshop, will offer a range of products, including storage boxes, plush toys, and crockery.
The Oxford Street store, which will open on Thursday, is part of Ikea’s plan to bring its products closer to where customers live, work, and socialise. Tolga Öncü, operations manager at Ikea, said the new store was a sign of the retailer’s ambition to "bring Ikea to where customers live, work and socialise". The store will feature three floors and the equivalent of 5,800 sq m of retail space, with around half of the 6,000 products on display available for immediate purchase.
The opening of the Oxford Street store is a significant development for the area, which has been hit hard by the shift to online shopping and a lack of tourists during the pandemic. Large premises owned by department stores such as Debenhams and House of Fraser have closed, while dozens of smaller units were filled by souvenir and candy retailers until the local council began evicting many of them in 2023 for failing to pay property taxes. According to The Financial Times, the Ikea opening is a "vote of confidence in London, in our economy and in our plans to rejuvenate Oxford Street".
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, welcomed the Ikea opening, saying it was a "vote of confidence in London, in our economy and in our plans to rejuvenate Oxford Street". In February, he launched a consultation on pedestrianising Oxford Street, arguing it would help the thoroughfare compete with other global shopping locations. Ikea’s decision to open a store on Oxford Street is seen as a boost to the area, which has been struggling to recover from the pandemic.
The new store is part of Ikea’s efforts to adapt to changing shopping habits. The retailer has previously opened inner-city stores in Paris, Mumbai, and Stockholm, and its first UK city store opened in west London in 2022. The Oxford Street store will include a Swedish "deli" selling its famous meatballs, offering customers a unique shopping experience.
As The Financial Times reports, Ikea employs almost 12,000 staff in the UK, with 21 full-size stores, one order-and-collection site, and three plan-and-order sites. The first store opened in 1987 in Warrington, north-west England. With its new Oxford Street store, Ikea is set to further expand its presence in the UK market.
The Oxford Street store’s opening was pushed back twice due to complex renovation work. However, Ikea is confident that the new store will be a success, offering customers a unique shopping experience and a range of products that cater to their needs. As Tolga Öncü noted, the new store is a sign of Ikea’s ambition to bring its products closer to its customers.
In conclusion, Ikea’s new store on Oxford Street marks a significant shift in the retailer’s strategy to expand beyond its traditional out-of-town warehouse model. With its focus on making the brand more "accessible" to city-dwelling customers, Ikea is set to further establish itself in the UK market. The store’s opening is also a boost to the Oxford Street area, which has been struggling to recover from the pandemic. As The Financial Times reports, the Ikea opening is a "vote of confidence in London, in our economy and in our plans to rejuvenate Oxford Street".
