The city is rejoicing at news of the new IKEA location opening in London. Students looking for furniture to fill their rental homes no longer have to travel long distances for new housing purchases.
Scheduled to open in fall 2019, IKEA London will be the 15th IKEA store in Canada. It will be located at the intersection of Highway 401 and Wellington Road, in a new retail and commercial complex. The store will be approximately 270,000 square feet, taking roughly 14-16 months to build once ground has been broken in late summer 2018. It will feature a Showroom, Market hall, a Restaurant, SMALAND children’s play facility and offer customers a complete range of convenient services including home delivery, assembly, planning and exchanges.
This is so exciting and much anticipated for many, many Londoners. I am pleased to say a full-size IKEA store will open in London in 2019,” said City of London Mayor Matt Brown. “This will create jobs, growth and a regional draw to our city. London is pleased to have a community-minded partner like IKEA set up shop here.”
After much success of the smaller pick-up and drop-off location on Wonderland Road, the opening of the new store will open 100-150 new jobs, in addition to the workers already at the London pick-up and order point and the construction jobs generated over the course of the project.
The London store will be taking an environment-friendly approach, in hopes to be a partner for positive change in the local community. IKEA London will be LEED certified, focusing on energy efficiency and waste avoidance. Key features of the building will include a rooftop solar photovoltaic installation, and have waste management equipment installed to maximize material recycling and diversion from landfill.
Additionally, IKEA is pleased that every single light source throughout the property will use LED lighting. While the store will operate in a sustainable manner, it will also provide inspiration and solutions that will enable customers to live a more sustainable and healthier life at home. For example, visitors will find solutions that will help them reduce and sort waste, save water and energy and encourage healthier living. Each new store is designed in a way that will present local home solutions that customers can relate to, are inspirational and are possible to implement in an affordable way.
In order to best represent London and surrounding area customers in the new store, home visits will be conducted during the planning and design process. Home visits allow IKEA to interview people in their homes to understand their needs, dreams and frustrations in and around the home.
In 2015, IKEA Canada announced its ambition to double the number of stores in Canada from 12 to 24 and expand from coast to coast. The London store will be the third stop on this journey. IKEA Halifax opened on September 27th, 2017 and IKEA Quebec City will open in late summer 2018.
