IKEA coming but noone really knows what’s in store

THE world’s largest furniture retailer, whose stores had

838 million visitors in the latest financial year, makes its New Zealand debut in just three days’ time, when it might announce where its first outlet will be.

International executives from the global giant will host a morning function in downtown Auckland, with a presentation expected from top boss and chief executive Jesper Brodin, previously managing director of Ikea of Sweden, responsible for the development of the product range and supply chain.

But it is unknown whether the executives would say where the first New Zealand store would be, if it would operate traditional bigbox formats or smaller stores and what its longerterm plans were here.

Speculation was it could open at Westgate. Campbell Barbour, general manager of landowner New Zealand Retail Property Group, said last month: ‘‘The site is a great location because it’s got motorway connections and it’s a new metropolitan town centre for Auckland.’’

On December 20, invitations were sent to the official launch of IKEA in New Zealand.

‘‘Please join Jesper Brodin, IKEA global CEO, as he unveils the first details on the arrival of IKEA to New Zealand,’’ the invitation said.

‘‘Inter IKEA Systems V.V. has announced its intentions to grant the Ingka Group had the exclusive rights to explore expansion opportunities in New Zealand,’’ an IKEA executive in Australia told the Herald last month.

Ingka Group was one of 11 groups of companies that owned and operated IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with IKEA, she said.

‘‘It is the world’s largest home furnishing retailer, operating 367 IKEA stores in 30 markets. These IKEA stores had 838 million visits during FY18,’’ she said.

Tolga Oncu, retail operations manager for Ingka Group, last month said the company planned to make a longterm commitment to New Zealand as it expanded into this part of the world.

Facebook group ‘‘IKEA is Coming to NZ’’, with 18,531 followers, was asking fans to share a photo of their favourite IKEA products or a story about an IKEA experience.

Reuters reported last April how IKEA was seeing the surge in ecommerce and home delivery which it said might dim the appeal of its classic outoftown warehouse stores but that the business had flagged how it might add fullrange citycentre showrooms to its offerings.

Warehouse founder and philanthropist Sir Stephen Tindall last month praised the business. ‘‘IKEA are an absolutely worldclass company. They do well wherever they go. I think they’ll be a big success in New Zealand,’’ he predicted.

‘‘The thing I really love about them is that they are putting sustainability at the front and centre,’’ he said.

Sir Stephen’s Tindall Foundation has invested heavily in environmental projects, including the planting of more than 22 million trees.

‘‘So they’re [IKEA] a great example of what can be done in retail,’’ he said.

New Zealand is yet to appear on website IKEA.com.