Ikea plans city store in heart of Paris

Ikea is fully focused on becoming a global presence in urban centers. The furniture chain is currently looking for locations in Paris, Copenhagen, London and Southeast Asia to attract broader audiences with smaller stores.

Paris and London

The furniture giant announced several months ago that it was willing to invest a lot in smaller city stores that would bring Ikea’s product range within reach of people without cars. Its iconic blue and yellow should start appearing in European cities in 2019: the furniture chain is currently negotiating a 5,000 sqm location in the commercial heart of Paris.

The Swedish chain not only wants to head to France: it also has targeted Copenhagen and London for its smaller store formula. The retailer has long since experimented with technologically advanced store formulas for urban areas, actual “laboratories to invent the new Ikea world”. Shoppers in the store in Brussels can currently admire (but not buy) several of the Delaktig collection pieces in one of the chain’s temporary pop-up stores.

Southeast Asia as well

Ikea is also looking beyond the European continent: it aims to set up shop in Southeast Asia as well, where smaller stores have to bring the chain prosperity in Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. A growing middle class and increased housing demand explain its choice for this emerging region, even though it remains to be seen whether its formula will appeal to the locals: Ikea was forced to shut down its urban store in Japanese Kumamoto in July 2017.

Ikea currently has 400 stores worldwide and that store network generated a 38.3 billion euro turnover in 2017.