London's IKEA "plan-and-order point” will be making the move from the north-end to the south-end next month.
The Swedish furniture retailer announced on Wednesday it will be relocating to a new and improved space at the Wonderland Power Centre at 3120 Wonderland Rd. South on March 6. The planning boutique was originally housed in Masonville Place. It opened in the north-end mall as a design studio in 2021 before being rebranded as a "plan-and-order point".
"IKEA Canada launched the design studio concept in Southwestern Ontario as a short-term concept to support customers with personalized design and planning services," said IKEA spokesperson Meghan Hogan. "Our ambition was to test and evaluate the concept, and determine whether to scale up or move on. We’ve seen a positive response from customers for the service provided at the current London location and are excited to be scaling up with the opening of a new, bigger plan-and-order point location.
Hogan added that the final day for the Masonville store will be Saturday.
"We look forward to welcoming London customers to the new and improved space at the Wonderland Power Centre on March 6," said Hogan.
Unlike the full IKEA warehouses most people are familiar with, plan-and-order points are much smaller. They offer walk-in and appointment-based planning services where customers can sit down with an IKEA expert to plan complex purchases like kitchen or bedroom storage projects. Products are not available for immediate takeaway from the smaller stores. Instead, customers can order desired items to be delivered to their homes or to a local IKEA pick-up location.
In addition to the relocated London location, IKEA is opening plan-and-order points in Lachenaie, Quebec on March 20 and in Barrie this summer. That will give the company a total of eight such stores in Canada.
"Our recent IKEA Life at Home report has shown that up to 50 per cent of Canadians are looking to either move or renovate their homes in the next two years, and we want to support them by providing affordable and inspiring home furnishing solutions that meet the evolving needs of their homes,” said Inna Romagnoli, IKEA Canada's manager of country business development and transformation. “We’re excited to bring an elevated planning experience to our London... neighbours and help them take the guesswork out of planning the space of their dreams.”
IKEA previously had a pick-up location on Wonderland Road South. It was closed in January 2020, just months before it cancelled plans to open a full-sized warehouse in the city.