NZ may get small Ikea
Now that Ikea’s arrival has been confirmed by the Swedish homeware retailer, the big question is: where will it go?
Could it be a shopping destination on the outskirts of our biggest city, or will it be part of Ikea’s new plan of opening smaller stores that can even fit into shopping malls?
First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said he had no doubt the store would be in Auckland. But will it be a mega-store? ‘‘Scale is what sets Ikea apart from other retailers. But nothing is off the table because New Zealand is an ideal market for international retailers to trial concepts.’’ Wilkinson said that in recent years Ikea had opened stores in three different store formats. There is the classic, big box, mega-store at the edge of a major city, normally 34,000 square metres, with the entire range, and big showroom floors.
The mega-stores include everything from homeware to groceries and even a cafeteria with the famed meatballs and lox (smoked salmon for us Kiwis).
There is the mid-range store like one in Poland, that is 5000sqm and opened in November last year. No iconic Swedish meatballs served here but consumers can walk in, design their ideal rooms and place an order for products to be shipped to them. And then (will this be us?) a mini click-and-collect store like the 900sqm store in a mall in London where you can order the full range and pick-up. Late last year Ikea announced it had 30 new small stores planned around the world.
Ikea is in 54 countries, and in 2017 made €38.8 billion (NZ$64b) in retail sales.
In December, Ikea said it would work with a company called Ingka Group to open its New Zealand stores.