Ikea to open store in London as it expands Canadian presence

VANCOUVER — Ikea Canada is readying to open a new store in London, Ont., in the fall of 2019 after the success of a pickup and order point it operates in the city.

The flat-pack furniture retailer says it plans to begin construction on the 270,000-square-foot store in the southwestern Ontario city late next summer.

A smaller-scale Ikea shop and online order hub in London will be closed following the opening of the full-size store, which the retailer says will create 100 to 150 jobs.

Ikea Canada president Marsha Smith says online order hubs are one way the company tests a possible market opportunity.

Smith says Ikea had great success with it in London and while the plan for a store may have already been in place, that good reception helped the decision.

The hubs also exist in Quebec City, where Ikea has previously announced it will open a replacement full-size store in late summer 2018, as well as in the Ontario cities of Kitchener, Whitby, Windsor and St. Catharines.

Smith says that while the company always hopes it can replace these other locations with fullfledged stores, it has no more announcements about future openings at this time.

Ikea has 13 stores in the country, including one in Burlington where its Canadian head office is located. In 2015, it announced plans to grow its presence from 12 stores to 24.

Smith says the company plans to do that over the next few years.