London — IKEA has purchased a West London shopping center, Kings Mall Shopping Centre in Hammersmith, where it will also debut its first UK small format store in spring 2021. The £170 million acquisition is part of IKEA’s strategy to develop mixed-use sites around urban stores.
When it opens in 2021, the new Kings Mall store will mark the sixth London-area location for IKEA. Most recently, IKEA opened in the city in Greenwich last year. IKEA also launched two London planning studios in 2019 under its plan to develop new formats for inner city locations.
IKEA already has a handful of smaller urban stores elsewhere in Europe, including sites in Paris and Moscow, but Hammersmith will be its first smaller UK shop.
“Our urban projects are all about getting closer to more people,” says Gerard Groener, managing director at Ingka Centres, the property arm of IKEA. “More of our customers are living in cities than ever before, and a regenerated Kings Mall will be an ideal location for reaching millions of Londoners.”
SOURCE: Guernsey Press