What started in Sweden as a mail-order company nearly 80 years ago is now the world’s largest furniture retailer.
IKEA, famous for its flat-pack furniture, plans to open its first New Zealand store in late 2025. The retailer’s Australasian CEO, Mirja Viinanen, visited Auckland this week to check on construction progress at Sylvia Park, and Seven Sharp reporter Nina Burton went along.
The Auckland store will be around 34,000m2 and have three floors — a ground-level car park and the store on two levels. It will have standalone entry and exit points and be connected to the rest of the Sylvia Park precinct.
The New Zealand operation is run by Ingka Group, which represents about 90% of IKEA stores.
“We estimate that the opening [of the store] is late 2025. There’s a lot still left to do, as you can imagine. The construction on the site, and of course, especially when it comes to the inside [of the construction],” said Viinanen.
She said the intention was to offer Kiwi customers the whole IKEA experience next year.
“We would like to start the business online and have the store opening at the same time. It takes a lot of work to get everything ready.”
The opening of the Auckland store was originally scheduled for late 2024, but the retailer had faced setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Covid-19 hit quite badly, and we had a few problems when it came to processes. Then we started [the process] again in 2021. The internal process took quite a while – the investment requests and approvals. We entered the site in 2023.”
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the future store’s Mt Wellington site in May 2023.
Work is also underway on a separate warehouse.
“We will lease a warehouse at the [Auckland] airport area [for the] stock. The stock will come next year, from May onwards. The warehouse will be ready and stocked so that when we start the business, the stock is available in the country.”
Knowing what Kiwis want
Viinanen said the retailer has researched the market to find out what Kiwis want.
“We had fifty colleagues travelling around [New Zealand] for three weeks, in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, visiting 500 Kiwi homes, asking questions and being curious about how people live.”
Those home visits made up the Life at Home report, which found storage requirements and alfresco living at the top of Kiwis’ lists.
Sustainability has also been an important element of the future store at Sylvia Park, said Viinanen.
“We have solar panels on the rooftop, EV charging for customers, and for the trucks for last-mile delivery.
“Inside the store, we will have a sustainable living shop. There will also be sophisticated insulation in the ceilings and floors, meaning the temperature will never be under sixteen degrees. So the heating won’t need to be powerful when it comes to energy usage.”
Rainwater will also be harvested in a 50,000-litre tank for use within the building.
The Auckland store will have a Swedish restaurant and food market serving its signature meatballs.
The retailer announced in April it was recruiting ahead of their first New Zealand store opening.
