Ikea closing first big U.K. store...
 

Ikea has announced plans to shut its Coventry store, the first time the Swedish retail chain has closed one of its large UK sites since arriving in Britain 33 years ago.

Ikea said on Tuesday it would shut the loss making West Midlands store this summer due to high operating costs and changing shopping habits. About 350 jobs are at risk.

The city centre store was built in 2007 and had cost £35m. It is one of 22 ‘big box’ stores the Swedish retailer runs in the UK.

Ikea said the seven-level Coventry store was too expensive to run and had been shunned by shoppers, who favoured more traditional retail park Ikeas or online shopping.

As a result, visitor numbers have been “substantially lower than expected” and the shop has made “consistent losses,” Ikea said in a statement.

“The proposed closure of the store has not been an easy decision, particularly given the impact it will have on our co-workers,” Peter Jelkeby, country retail manager for Ikea UK and Ireland, said in a statement. “Although this isn’t an easy decision, this is the right decision for the long-term success of Ikea in the UK.”

READ MORE: UK retailers have 'cut 10,000 jobs already this year'

Dave Gill, national officer for the Usdaw union, told the Press Association the decision was “devastating news for Ikea staff”. Jelkeby thanked staff for their hard work and Ikea said it would try to find new work within the company for as many people as possible.

Ikea is known for its large, out of town furniture showrooms where shoppers can buy cheap flatpack furniture to take home on the day. The company first entered the UK in 1987 with a shop in Warrington, Cheshire, and came to symbolise the growing affluence of Britain’s middle classes in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

However, Ikea has been forced to rethink its business model in the last decade due to changing shopping habits. It has invested in its online store and opened smaller, inner city showrooms that let people browse the range and pick up orders. Ikea said it would set up a new online collection point for shoppers in Coventry.

“At Ikea, we are constantly challenging ourselves to find ways to meet the needs of our customers and we will continue to try and test, investing in stores, fulfilment centres, city centre formats and our digital capabilities,” Jelkeby said.

https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/ik...115633368.html

Yes no one wanted to go Up the 7 Floors
amazing it lasted this long.

Damn even IKEA isn't safe

I love a browse round ikea buying crap that you need a degree to put together. :flutter:

Ikeas are so big tho I hate going there it takes forever to get around

yeah I have to book a day off work to go there because F going on a Saturday or Sunday honestly

This store is not like the rest
its in town with 7 Floors.

Shoppers did not like the 7 floors.

They are not making any profit at that store
So it must get Closed down.

If the Leeds store closes I shall be in a period of mourning for longer than queen Victoria was.

...yeah, that you’ve furnished a whole floor of your house and fitted it all in the backseat of your car...:lovedup:..

To be fair... And although I do have some IKEA stuff... A lot of their furniture is low-quality and over priced :umm2:. Laminated chipboard and MDF. The slightest knock or graze will put scratches all over it. E.g. our TV unit in the corner is a 2 x 4 kallax with a combination of drawers, cupboards and open sections. It's fine because it never gets touched.

The top of my PC desk is a large "slab" of the same material and it's been scratched to bits since about a week after we got it.

Yeah, the desk tops aren't really fit for purpose. Simple writing on a piece of paper and the pen leaves scratch marks on the desk. I had to buy a large desk mat thing to cover it when I was in uni.

Still better quality than argos [emoji23]

I have pretty much the same experience as you though, my kallax is still in perfect condition and it's a good few years old now but my computer station has bangs, scratches etc all over it.

I love the malm furniture though that's pretty solid and hard wearing although that could be due to us having the glass on top that protects them :shrug:

Best place for furniture imo is wayfair