After years of anticipation, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has opened its first store in London, Ont., welcoming hundreds of shoppers to White Oaks Mall on opening day. The new location, a compact-store concept that is the first of its kind in Canada, opened Tuesday morning following a ribbon-cutting ceremony shortly before 10 a.m. Customers began lining up hours before the opening. Among them was Western University student Micka Soria, who said she and her friends arrived around 2:30 a.m. to secure a spot near the front of the line. “We had to wait for maybe more than four hours just to get in, and the weather, too, is really cold,” Soria said. “Growing up, I was always going to IKEA in Toronto. When I moved here, IKEA was nowhere.” IKEA Canada CEO and chief sustainability officer Selwyn Crittendon said the company has long recognized demand for a location in London but noted that traditional IKEA stores require significantly more space. “We know that it’s hard to plop down 300,000 square feet anywhere in the country, so now it’s about being more accessible,” Crittendon said. The London store spans about 43,000 square feet and features curated room displays, more than 2,500 home furnishing and seasonal products, and a self-serve warehouse area with about 400 furniture items available for immediate purchase. IKEA officials said the store’s product selection was tailored to local demand using purchasing data from the company’s Burlington location. “We took a quite deep dive into what the London market has been buying and what the needs are,” said Danny Santana, deputy market manager for IKEA Burlington. “We really wanted to prioritize everyday essentials and convenience for the product assortment here.” The opening follows a lengthy effort to bring IKEA to London. More than two decades ago, the company announced plans for a south London store but later abandoned the proposal amid changing market conditions. Crittendon said the compact-store model is better suited to London’s market and allows the company to expand into communities where a traditional IKEA store may not be feasible. Opening-day celebrations included giveaways, contests and special promotions, while shoppers also had access to IKEA’s food offerings, including its signature Swedish meatballs.
