Shock as IKEA announces plan to close nearby store

FURNITURE store IKEA has announced it plans to shut a store used by thousands of people in Leicestershire.

The Coventry store, which is the nearest IKEA for residents in the Hinckley area, is set to close this summer, the company confirmed yesterday.

It will be the first of its large

UK stores to close since the Swedish firm came to the UK 33 years ago.

The company said the closure of the £35 million Coventry branch, which opened at Christmas in 2007, will affect 352 workers.

The furniture and home improvement giant said the city centre site was too expensive to operate and had lost customers to retail parks and online shopping.

In a statement, Ikea said: “The store was built over seven levels, which resulted in a significant impact on the operating costs of the store and the shopping experience for customers.

“In addition, the changing behaviour of customers in the area who prefer to shop in retail parks and online has resulted in visitor numbers being substantially lower than expected and continuing to decrease over time.

“These factors have led to the store making consistent losses.”

It said downsizing or redeveloping the site was “not a realistic option”.

Ikea has 22 stores and is looking at rolling out more city centre locations - but far smaller than the Coventry site.

The other nearest store for Leicestershire is at Giltbrook, just off junction 26 of the M1 in Nottinghamshire.