Ikea breaks ground on first New Zealand store

Saturday, 3 June 2023

An artist’s impression of Ikea’s first NZ store, set to open in Auckland's Sylvia Park.

Swedish furniture giant Ikea is about to begin construction on its first New Zealand store at Auckland's Sylvia Park, and expects it to open its doors at the end of 2025.

Ikea has been waiting to begin work on a local store since 2019, when it first announced Auckland would be its first location.

The global retailer initially floated the end of 2024 as a possible opening date, but Ikea New Zealand chief executive Mirja Viinanen said finding the right location had “been a journey”, and it had faced set-backs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ikea executives held a groundbreaking ceremony and iwi blessing at the Mt Wellington site on Friday morning to mark the beginning of construction of the 34,000m² store.

The three-level store is similar is size to the typical Ikea in other markets, and will feature at least two full-scale houses inside as part of its showroom displays.

It will have a Swedish restaurant and food market serving meatballs, and car parking on the ground level, along with access through to Sylvia Park shopping mall.

Ikea digital renders show what decade your decor belongs to.

The store opening will also include the launch of a local website for online shoppers, and is expected to draw in millions of shoppers each year.

Ikea said it was confident the multi-million-dollar store would be well-received.

Sydney-based Viinanen said there was a gap in the market for affordable high quality furnishings, and Ikea’s arrival could bring down prices.

“The vision of Ikea is we like to create a better life for people, which means people with thinner wallets,” Viinanen said.

She said it had taken a few years to find the perfect site for the store.

Ikea expansion manager Fabian Winterbine was tight-lipped on further store openings in New Zealand, but said it would be looking at the possibility of rolling-out smaller format stores alongside big box locations.

“Our intention is to be close to many people and to be more accessible, so opening more stores will be something that we look at over time,” Winterbine said.

Ikea says its Auckland store will have direct access through to Sylvia Park shopping mall.

Ikea NZ chief executive Mirja Viinanen says the retailer’s arrival could drive down the price of home furnishings.

Viinanen said the store would allow Ikea to learn more about the market and local shopping habits for home furnishings.

Ikea had a portfolio of store sizes it was trialling in other countries as well as online shopping. It has also opened a plan and order point test site in Australia, she said.

Winterbine said additional stores in New Zealand would be based on demand.

“What’s coming is not just the experience of walking through the store and seeing our product range in reality, we’re now integrating a lot more digital tools, which is also unique in the market.”

Work to lay the foundations for the store would begin soon, and hundreds of people would be employed to run the store.

Ikea operates 400 stores worldwide, including 10 in Australia, where it has been operating for almost 50 years.

New Zealand fans have long been calling for Ikea to set up shop here. For years there was a Bring Ikea to NZ Facebook page, raking up more than 20,000 likes. The page has since changed its name to Ikea is coming to NZ.