Ikea takes ‘box store’ in a whole new direction
There are vending machines for soft drinks, snacks, toiletries, even fishing bait. Why not one for Ikea kitchen tools? As TrendHunter learned, a subway station in the Swedish capital of Stockholm features a vending machine setup containing Ikea kitchen tools.
The machine at Hötorget metro station in the city’s centre is stocked with various useful kitchen gadgets, ranging from garlic presses to egg slicers.
It’s not only a vending machine, but also the stand-alone unit helps direct users to a nearby Ikea popup shop that sells even more home essentials, including seven kitchen sets. A campaign launched by the Swedish furniture giant wanted to encourage customers to, in the company’s words, “get a kitchen to go with their garlic press.”
“We want to show in a playful way that Ikea is available wherever (our customers are), not only in our department stores,” Ikea Sweden’s deputy country sales director, Miki Tabakovic, told retail site Market.se. “It’s a fully functioning vending machine. You can pay with a card and get your product instantly.”
However, according to Business Insider, the machine appears not to be a permanent fixture at Hötorget station — serving as more of a publicity stunt to promote the pop-up store. Ikea also commissioned an ad on the side of a Stockholm archipelago ferry, which read (in Swedish): “Ride the ferry to the kitchen.”