Residents of the London region who like to shop at IKEA will have to keep driving to Burlington.
The company known for its assemble-at-home furniture has announced that it no longer plans to build a store in London. Fans of IKEA were overjoyed in the fall of 2017 when the company announced plans to build a full-sized store in London's south end. The original plan was to have the store ready for opening by the fall of 2019. However, that plan was put on hold in the summer of 2018 as the company dealt with what it called a "rapidly changing retail environment."
"We had previously announced that we would delay the London, ON store project as we evaluated the best solution for the site," the company said in a statement emailed to Blackburn News. "We have now made the difficult decision to no longer pursue the acquisition of land in London. As such, we will not move forward with plans to build a store in the region."
In January, IKEA closed its pickup and order point location on Wonderland Road in London. It also closed similar locations in Windsor, Kitchener, St. Catherines, and Whitby.
"We are grateful for the incredible support we’ve received from the city of London and the local community over the past several years," the company said. "We continue to see strong engagement from our customers across Southwestern Ontario and remain committed to serving the community in the best possible way. Looking forward, we will focus on enhancing our digital tools, improving our local service offer and introducing new, more affordable ways to shop with IKEA."
