Ikea has pushed back the opening date of its highly anticipated store on Oxford Street until autumn 2024.
The Swedish giant said the year-long delay was down to “ensuring optimal preservation” of the grade II listed former Topshop flagship.
The furniture retailer unveiled on Wednesday a 128ft wide and 62ft tall blue Frakta bag covering the scaffolding of the building, which the retailer’s investment arm Ingka Investments snapped up for £387m in 2021.
The retailer said that 150 jobs will be created by the new 82,000sq ft store, which will spread across six floors on London’s busiest shopping street.
The branch will display around 6,000 products throughout the showroom and market-hall area, with more than half available to take-home that day.
Larger furniture pieces can be delivered directly to the customers’ homes by the retailer’s fleet of electric vehicles from its warehouse in Dartford or from its collection points across the capital.
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Ikea UK chief executive Peter Jelkeby said: “We’re incredibly excited to be bringing Ikea to the heart of London’s vibrant retail scene on Oxford Street.
“By having a presence at one of the most iconic shopping destinations in the world, we’re taking a significant step forward in our ongoing journey to make it easier to shop with Ikea– whenever, wherever and however customers choose.”
The large-scale refurbishment project involves removing fossil fuel gas-fired boilers and replacing them with energy-efficient air source heat pumps, to power the building with renewable energy.
Ingka Investments managing director Peter van der Poel said: “When refurbishing this over one hundred-year-old historic landmark, it’s important for us as an investor to treat the building with care and to preserve its characteristics and atmosphere.
“At the same time, we want to upgrade it to today’s standards with the best possible sustainability credentials.
“To ensure all of this, the extensive refurbishment will take more time than initially anticipated.”
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