Sign of the times!

FOR more than a decade the giant letters of Ikea have been visible from across Coventry city centre.

Since December 2007, the Swedish ready-to-assemble furniture giants home has towered into the city’s skyline.

But this week its identity began to be scrubbed away.

Workmen were on site to continue the process of clearing the giant store including the Ikea bright yellow lettering on a blue background.

They started on the ground level letters that face out onto Queen Victoria Road.

The super-sized letters were light enough for two workmen to carry away with little trouble.

We reported in February that consultation had begun before the company confirmed the Coventry store would close in summer 2020.

The outbreak of coronavirus prompted all Uk-based Ikea stores to close in March. When the list of stores that were reopening on June 1 was announced, Coventry was not among them.

In mid-may, we reported the stripping out process of the seven-storey building had commenced. Later that month, it was confirmed that it would not be reopening.

Marsha Smith, Area Manager Ikea UK and Ireland said at the time: “The decision not to reopen our Coventry store to customers and to close it permanently in the summer, has not been an easy one.

“It has been an honour to be part of this community and we would like to thank our co-workers for their enormous contribution, and our loyal customers for their support, over the last 12 years.”

The closure affected 352 jobs but 100 new positions have been identified to workers.

Ikea pointed to the store’s seven-storey layout as a contributing factor to its closure, stating it had a ‘significant impact on the operating costs’ as well as the ‘shopping experience’ for customers. They also pointed to the changing behaviour of customers in the area who ‘prefer to shop in retails park and online,’ resulting in visitor numbers being ‘substantially lower than expected and continuing to decrease over time.’

The statement concluded with the line: “These factors have led to the store making consistent losses.”