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In December 2014 the new president of IKEA Canada said that the Swedish furniture giant plans to open 10 smaller stores across the country, something that could be a reality now that Target locations will become available.
Stefan Sjöstrand said the company would be eyeing up locations similar to the size of retail stores such as London Drugs to provide customers with so called “pickup” locations. The stores will have counters just like a regular IKEA store, and workers will retrieve items for customers who ordered online.
IKEA Canada President Stefan Sjöstrand (Photo Credit: IKEA Handout)
IKEA Canada’s Public Relations Manager Madeleine Löwenborg-Frick confirmed with KelownaNow that the idea is still on the table, but when we can see that happen is still a mystery.
“The ambition is to make IKEA more accessible to the many Canadians through a multichannel environment,” explained Löwenborg-Frick. “This will be accomplished by examples such as increased service offers, pick-up points and an improved ecommerce interface, all resulting in our customers having easier access to our products. At the same time, the inspirational in-store shopping experience will continue to be the base for our operations. While the strategy is clear; the timing, locations and format of the increased accessibility has not been finalized and it is premature to speculate on these details.”
Photo Credit: IKEA
Löwenborg-Frick wouldn’t confirm if the company is looking at the retail locations soon to be vacated by Target, but with stores across the country, most likely looking for tenants quickly, it has to be on the minds of IKEA’s head office. There is a store in Kelowna that offers IKEA delivery service called Dash of Modern. And just one look at their social media page shows that they are always hopping busy with orders. The company will pick up and if necessary assemble products for clients.
An IKEA warehouse (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)
If an IKEA location did come to Kelowna it would wipe out a company such as this, but at this point it is just speculation that a pick up location would come to the area. People have clamored for years for IKEA to open up shop in the region, as the closest store is in Coquitlam. But it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not the company will consider buying up some old Target locations to broaden its services.
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