Ikea New Zealand will be opening its first store at Auckland’s Sylvia Park shopping mall, after signing a deal for 3.2 hectares of land.
Sylvia Park, owned by Kiwi Property Group, offers the best retail experience for the Swedish furniture retailer’s expansion in New Zealand, said Ikea New Zealand chief executive Mirja Viinanen.
Ikea New Zealand will also operate and online store and delivery across the country.
In 2018 Ikea’s worldwide franchise holder Inter Ikea Systems announced it was looking at entering the New Zealand market, with reports that a greenfields site of 5ha-plus was in the pipeline (or should we say flatpack). Over a year on, we look into exactly when is Ikea coming to New Zealand and where the proposed mega-store will be located.
In a statement, the retail operations manager for Ingka Group Tolga Oncu said the company is happy to meet the wish of many New Zealanders for Ikea to open here. “We aim to make IKEA fully accessible, including stores and e-commerce. We see this as a long-term commitment and investment in New Zealand, building relationships with customers, suppliers and future co-workers.”
When will Ikea open in New Zealand?
With the recent announcement that American retailer Costco will be coming to New Zealand, speculation about when the Swedish furniture store will open is rife.
Ikea Sylvia Park is slated to open in late-2025.
Ikea hires first New Zealand staff member
The retail giant has introduced Johanna Cederlöf as the market manager for this exciting venture. Cederlöf’s role will encompass the management and establishment of the IKEA brand in New Zealand, where she is expected to be a pivotal figure.
Cederlöf’s journey with IKEA began in 2011 in Finland, where she steadily climbed the ranks and assumed the position of a store manager in 2017. Subsequently, she made her way to Austria, where she served as a market manager for an IKEA store in Vienna.
Expressing her enthusiasm for this new chapter, Cederlöf shared, “I can’t wait to immerse myself in a country with such a rich culture, people, and values, to see how both our brand and home furnishing solutions can make the best impact from day one.”
Her appointment marks a significant step for IKEA as they prepare to introduce their distinctive brand to New Zealand.
How many stores – and where?
In early 2020, Ikea confirmed they will open three “customer touchpoints” across New Zealand. One of these will include a full-sized store in Auckland, which we now know is in Sylvia Park.
While the Swedish retailer has not confirmed the exact locations, it is reported they will open a planning studio in Wellington and a smaller store in Christchurch.
Jan Gardberg, the country retail manager for Ikea New Zealand, says the retail giant is interested in knowing more about their New Zealand customers. “While planning has been underway, we have also been getting to know more about life at home in New Zealand,” he says.
Pop-up store
Until the official opening, Ikea will open a pop-up shop in central Auckland. “It does take time to build a truly big blue and yellow iconic Ikea store, it will take a number of years to get the full offer up and running but we don’t want to keep people waiting,” Ikea’s New Zealand manager, Will Edwards told Stuff earlier this year.
“Planning is underway for a location of the store and pop-up store. More information will be shared when we have more concrete plans,” the Ikea New Zealand says.
There are 367 Ikea stores in 30 different countries, including Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia, and soon Kiwis can look forward to access to 7000 products from the brand.
