Construction Begins On First IKEA Store In New Zealand

The Swedish, home-furnishing retailer confirmed it plans to open first blue box in Sylvia Park, Auckland in late 2025. 

Construction has begun on the first ever IKEA store in Aotearoa New Zealand. Located at Sylvia Park, Auckland, IKEA New Zealand today confirmed an anticipated opening date to customers of late 2025.

"New Zealand felt like a missing piece for IKEA and I am so pleased that, thanks to the support of the many involved, we are now able to start changing that. We are humbled by the interest shown in IKEA and our home furnishing solutions and will do our absolute best to live up to such expectations. I wish everyone a smooth and speedy construction and look very much forward to welcoming New Zealand to the big IKEA family as soon as possible." – Tolga Öncü, Head of IKEA Retail, Ingka Group.

The beginning of construction was recognised by a groundbreaking event, which took place following a Māori blessing with local iwi who officially welcomed IKEA to the land. After the Māori blessing, a Fika, which is a traditional Swedish ritual of coming together over food took place.

Mirja Viinanen, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer for IKEA New Zealand and Australia confirmed the first store will open alongside online shopping, enabling IKEA to be as accessible as possible to the many New Zealanders.

"We know anticipation has been building since we first announced our intention to come to New Zealand, so we are excited to share our plans today as we take an important step closer to saying ‘hej!’ to the many New Zealanders. We’re so grateful to the iwi who helped welcome us to the land, in addition to Kiwi Property, our partners who have enabled construction to begin as we look towards our anticipated opening date of late 2025." – Mirja Viinanen, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer for IKEA New Zealand and Australia.

Facts about the first store for IKEA New Zealand:

• The store will be large format and approximately 34,000m2 in size.
• IKEA New Zealand will be a three-floor building, with a ground level carpark and the store spread across two levels.
• It will have standalone entry and exit points, as well as being connected to the rest of the Sylvia Park retail precinct.
• The new IKEA store will also have a Swedish Restaurant and Bistro serving the iconic meatballs and hot dogs, now of course inclusive of plant-based versions of the Swedish favourites.
• Like all IKEA stores, sustainability will be at the heart of the development from the start and into the store’s opening and day to day running. Our ambition is to achieve NZ 5 Green Star rating with our new building.
• Sustainable features of IKEA New Zealand’s first store will include solar panels on the roof, electric vehicle chargers in the car park and 100% LED lighting.

The start of the construction of the first IKEA store in New Zealand ties into Ingka Group’s continued focus on omnichannel growth and expansion across the world. In Spain the company is investing EUR 150 million in opening many new locations around the country by 2025. It is expanding substantially in the UK and London while in Austria, in just three years, it has increased the number of stores and planning studios from 8 to 45, making IKEA more accessible than ever before there.

Source : IKEA

For all the very latest news and intelligence on the UK's largest home improvement and garden retailers, sign up for the Insight DIY weekly newsletter.