The opening of the brand new Ikea Oxford Street store, formerly Topshop's flagship site, has been delayed once again and is now expected to open in spring 2025.
Claiming one of the most prominent spots on London's most famous shopping street, the £378 million deal will create a new central London home for the Swedish furniture brand, but eager shoppers will have to wait even longer for the opening, which was initially scheduled for autumn 2023, before being pushed back a year to autumn 2024, and now scheduled for spring next year.
In what is an extensive renovation across all seven floors of the iconic Grade II listed building, the delay has been caused due to 'unforeseen additional work', including a water leak in the basement.
'Ikea Oxford Street is a one-of-a-kind project, involving the sensitive and sustainable upgrade of a Grade II listed building that is over a hundred years old. Following the discovery of an unforeseen water ingress issue, we’re now taking vital steps to mitigate long-term flood risk, and to protect and future-proof this historic building for many years to come,' said Peter van der Poel, managing director at Ingka Investments, Ikea's parent company.
Since the end of 2023, passersby along Oxford Street have been greeted with a giant 128ft x 62ft version of Ikea's iconic blue Frakta carrier bag covering the scaffolding of the site.
Work has been happening behind the scenes to move the renovation project closer to the finish line, including: installing energy-efficient air source heat pumps following the removal of fossil fuel gas-fired boilers, completing the replacement of all wiring, plumbing and fire protection, converting the upper floors into office space, installing secondary glazing and cleaning the building’s iconic fascia, which enabled the giant Frakta bag hoarding to be removed as of this month.
Ingka Investments is hoping to achieve the highest levels of sustainable certification by BREEAM, while ensuring optimal preservation of the building and keeping neighbouring stores open for trading.
When will the new Ikea Oxford Street store open?
Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, bought the long leasehold on the building which includes the now-vacant Topshop store. The Ikea Oxford Street store opening has now been postponed until spring 2025. In November last year it was already pushed back to autumn 2024, having originally been scheduled to open in autumn 2023.
What will Ikea sell in this new store?
The former Topshop flagship store at 214 Oxford Street, which is adjacent to Oxford Circus underground station, will span three floors, with a total area of 82,000 square feet (7,600 square meters). There will be some 6,000 products on display, from Billy bookcases to Pokal glasses, with more than 2,000 being home furnishing accessories that can be bought and taken home on the day. The full furniture range will be available to buy for home delivery or picked up from Ikea collection points being rolled out across the capital. Additionally, Ikea's famous meatballs will also be available at a cafe within the store.
But there's more, during Milan Design Week in April, Ingka Group creative director, Marcus Engman, showed a preview of IKEA Live Studio, a new in-store experience that is set to be piloted at the new Ikea Oxford Street Store. The 25m² space will be a hub for crafting fast-paced content with local London content creators, right before your eyes. With Live Studio, Ikea aims to produce dynamic content at lightning speed that resonates with local and global audiences. Shoppers to the Oxford Street store will be able to see the content displayed on the store's windows.
Why open on Oxford Street?
Despite the high street being hard hit during the pandemic and numerous stores closing or consolidating their store portfolios, Ikea has pushed forward with plans to expand its city stores.
'Even though online shopping continues to accelerate at a rapid pace, our physical stores, large and small, will always be an essential part of the Ikea experience – as places for inspiration and expertise, community and engagement,' Peter Jelkeby, retail manager at Ikea UK and Ireland, previously said. 'Bringing Ikea to the heart of Oxford Street – one of the most innovative, dynamic and exciting retail destinations in the world – is a direct response to these societal shifts.'
Is the nearby mini Ikea central London store on Tottenham Court Road still open?
Unfortunately, it's no longer open. The Ikea Tottenham Court Road Planning Studio, which specialised in kitchens and bedrooms, opened in October 2018. However, after 'careful evaluation', Ikea Tottenham Court Road permanently closed its doors on 16th July 2021.
Have there been any other Ikea store closures in London?
Yes, the Ikea Tottenham store closed in 2022. Ikea said in its Annual Report (financial year 2022): 'We took the hard decision to close the Ikea Tottenham store in Edmonton, North London. This was followed by an extensive assessment of our presence in London, where changing shopping behaviours, combined with the redevelopment of the area where the store is located, prompted us to assess the long-term viability of the store.'
Will there be more Ikea stores opening in London in the near future?
The Ikea Oxford Street store is the only one planned at the moment, however, Ikea plans to use the capital city as a 'testbed' for any new developments.
'Over the next few years, we'll continue our plans for becoming more convenient with continued investment in London, using the city as a testbed for new innovations and store formats. Our insights will then inform decisions on how we get even closer to our urban customers in other parts of the UK,' Ikea revealed.
Where else can I find an Ikea store in London?
In Greater London, IKEA's physical stores include:
- Hammersmith (micro store)
- Croydon
- Greenwich (Ikea's leading sustainable store)
- Lakeside, Essex
- Wembley
Visit ikea.com for more store locations in the UK.
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The Colour Edit
Olivia Heath is the Daily Editor at House Beautiful. Heading up all things digital, Olivia loves nothing more than uncovering tomorrow's biggest design trends and sharing the best decorating tips, small space living solutions, and houseplant care and gardening advice. Week by week Olivia compiles the most stylish high street homeware buys to help you get the look for less, and showcases the best makeovers, as well as the hottest and most unique properties on the market. She also loves covering some of the biggest events in the calendar, including all the action from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Colour of the Year forecasts from Pantone to Dulux, and exclusive previews of all the new Christmas collections before it hits the shops.
Olivia has been writing about homes and interiors for the past seven years, and her work has also been published on Elle Decor US, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, Red, Prima, Elle Japan, Modern Living and Micasa Revista.
Prior to joining House Beautiful, Olivia worked at Reveal magazine, where she reported on celebrity and entertainment news by day, and attended showbiz parties and red carpet events by night! Olivia has an MA in Journalism with an NCTJ qualification, as well as a BA in Journalism and Media & Cultural Studies.
