Malmö, Sweden — Two years and three months after the groundbreaking ceremony in Sylvia Park, Auckland, IKEA has officially opened its first store in New Zealand. New Zealand is the first new market for the largest IKEA retailer since 2021, when a store opened in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia.
“We’re thrilled to bring IKEA all the way to New Zealand, the country that’s geographically the furthest from our Swedish beginnings. That distance makes this opening special,” says Tolga Öncü, Ingka retail manager (COO), Ingka Group | IKEA. “Coming to New Zealand is a real leap of faith, investment and friendship, showing we’re not just exporting a store. We’re planting roots for the long term.”
For the first time when opening a new market, IKEA has set up 29 pickup points around the country, where customers can collect their purchases even more affordably. The new IKEA store in Auckland, pickup points and online and remote sales complement each other in an omnichannel way, allowing the Swedish retailer to get closer to the shopping preferences of New Zealanders. In addition, a Buy Back service is available at the store from day one — even for non-IKEA products — supporting circular living and reducing waste.
Ahead of the store opening, IKEA has visited more than 500 homes in New Zealand to understand the life at home expectations of the many Kiwis and translate those learnings into its store and online presentation.
The expansion into New Zealand is part of a broader investment strategy aimed at making IKEA even more accessible worldwide. In total, more than EUR 5 billion will be invested by fiscal year 2027 in opening new locations and optimizing the existing ones across many markets.
SOURCE: IKEA