Ikea opens its first Irish distribution centre to aid online buyers

Ikea has opened a distribution centre in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, the retailer’s first such centre in Ireland.

The new facility, which employs 200 people, is set to shorten Ikea’s delivery times for Irish customers to three days.

Previously, many of the orders made online by Ikea customers in Ireland were dispatched from the UK.

The new distribution centre, which spans over 27,000 square metres, is about double the size of Croke Park, Ikea reported.

It will stock up to 9,000 of the Swedish retailer’s product lines, which represents nearly every item that Ikea has on sale.

Ikea anticipates that over 300,000 deliveries will come from the facility in the first year of operations. This number is expected to rise to almost 600,000 over the next five years.

Ikea said the distribution centre has the capacity to deliver up to three million items in the future.

“We were bringing goods over from the UK so that was added time, cost and also from a sustainability perspective,” Marsha Smith, deputy chief executive of Ikea Ireland and UK, said.

“But, of course, we needed to build the volume up to make sure it was cost effective to have our own location here,” she added. “It means that when a customer goes online, they can get their delivery within a couple of days.”

The company’s 8MWwind farm, which is located in Co Leitrim, will help power the distribution centre. It already contributes power to Ikea’s flagship store in Ballymun. The wind farm is expected to produce about twice the amount of electricity required by both locations, according to Ikea.

Ikea’s investment arm, Ingka Investments, revealed last October that it has invested in a 10GW offshore wind project portfolio in Ireland and the UK.

The opening of the distribution centre comes as the retailer continues its expansion in Ireland.

The retailer has also opened a number of ‘plan and order’ points across Ireland, with the sixth location set to open on Friday in Sligo.

“We have planned more than 3,000 kitchens so far this year,” Ms Smith said, adding that two more undisclosed locations for this service will open later in the year around Ireland.

Ikea has also teamed up with Tesco Ireland for a collection service. Shoppers who place an order online can collect items from Ikea’s transport provider’s vehicle in nine Tesco locations around the country.