IKEA Oxford Street: When is IKEA opening its central London store and where is it?

IKEA will open in Oxford Street this year, with more London locations “under consideration”.
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Having been announced in 2021, there has been a long wait for the opening of IKEA’s Oxford Street store, which is planned for 2023.

This month the furniture and homeware story announced 13% sales growth for the year to August, compared to the previous year.

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The company, founded in Sweden in 1943, said the year had seen customers returning to stores.

Previously largely based out of town - including major stores in Wembley and Croydon - IKEA plans to open smaller shops, the first of which has just celebrated its first anniversary in Hammersmith, west London.

The company is actively looking at further London locations.

Under the heading “Investing in London to get closer to customers”, IKEA’s new annual report says: “Our Hammersmith store, which opened in February 2022, was the first of our new small format stores in the UK. It was chosen for better serving an increasingly urban population, and understanding their new shopping behaviours.

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“Over the next few years, we’ll continue our plans for becoming more convenient with continued investment in London, using the city as a testbed for new innovations and store formats. Our insights will then inform decisions on how we get even closer to our urban customers in other parts of the UK.”

The company will also open a new distribution centre in Dartford.

Ikea’s planned store at Oxford Circus.Ikea’s planned store at Oxford Circus.
Ikea’s planned store at Oxford Circus.

When will IKEA open in Oxford Street?

The company has yet to announce an opening date, but this month it said that the plan is for a launch in autumn 2023.

The annual report says: “Our retail space at the prestigious global shopping destination opens in 2023, progressing our vision of our stores as accessible destinations for inspiration and engagement, and affordable price tags.”

Where is IKEA in Oxford Street?

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IKEA will move into 214 Oxford Street, near Oxford Circus. The building was previously home to Topshop.

IKEA Hammersmith

Last month, the company celebrated the first anniversary of its Hammersmith outlet, which it says is a “new style of IKEA store in the UK”.

In the first 12 months, the store sold more than 750,000 meatballs and 25,000 hot dogs, and welcomed more than two million visitors.

The shop sells kitchen, bathroom and bedroom goods, with almost 3,000 products available to take home on the day.

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Michael Hawkins, London area manager, IKEA UK, said: “IKEA Hammersmith marked the start of our journey to get closer to customers in London. We’re incredibly proud that our co-workers have welcomed more than two million customers to the store over the past 365 days and we look forward to continuing to build on the success of this new store format over the coming year.

“The Hammersmith store will be followed by our highly anticipated move onto Oxford Street, with planning for the unique space under way, and other locations under consideration. Alongside the opening of new stores, we continue to focus on improving our customer experience, investing in existing stores and expanding our service offering and fulfilment network.”

The planned Ikea store in Oxford Street.The planned Ikea store in Oxford Street.
The planned Ikea store in Oxford Street.

IKEA Dartford distribution centre

Around £32 million is being spent on a new 420,000 cubic metre distribution centre in Dartford, Kent.

The centre is intended to increase fulfilment capacity by 20%, with 60% of deliveries into the capital being zero emission.

It is expected to open in late 2023.

IKEA 2021/2 sales

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This month, IKEA UK announced total sales of £2.2 billion for the year ending August 31, 2022.

Peter Jelkeby, country retail manager and chief sustainability officer for IKEA UK, said: “We saw consumers returning to our stores while online sales remained strong with high demand for a convenient shopping experience.

“To meet these needs, we opened our first small store on the high street, created new ways to meet customers remotely and in-store, and launched new ways to deliver orders.

“With a variety of stores, service offers and digital solutions that complement each other, our aim is to be there for our customers, however they want to meet us.”