Inside IKEA's New Downtown Toronto Store
By Simon Hung
May 24, 2022When you walk through the doors of IKEA's brand new store in Downtown Toronto, it'll feel familiar yet different to anyone accustomed to the typical IKEA shopping experience.
"We wanted to maintain the look and feel of a traditional IKEA, but add some new things to refresh the experience," said Michelle Marcello, Commercial Manager for IKEA Canada. IKEA Canada invited RedFlagDeals to preview their new store and Marcello was gracious enough to provide a tour on the eve of its highly-anticipated grand opening.
Located at the corner of Yonge and Gerrard Streets in the Aura condominium complex, IKEA Toronto Downtown only occupies approximately 66,000 sq. ft. of retail space across two floors, making it the smallest IKEA store in Canada. Despite this, it may be their most important one to-date, as marks the first time the chain has opened a permanent store in the heart of Toronto.
Most of the floor space in IKEA Toronto Downtown combines two familiar IKEA shopping elements – the showroom and Market Hall – in order to efficiently use the smaller space. Marcello describes it as an "IKEA without the warehouse", as the store does not have a self-serve warehouse with flat-packed furniture. Approximately 2000 out of 7000 products in IKEA's catalogue are available for immediate purchase in-store, while larger items like furniture are only for display and can be ordered for delivery or pickup (a dedicated pickup area is located in Aura's basement level).
IKEA Toronto Downtown is also the first IKEA to be completely cashless, with payment only available via credit, debit or IKEA gift cards. Checkout stations are available on both levels, including dedicated self-serve lanes for shoppers who use the IKEA app to scan items while in-store.
On the first floor, you'll find kitchen-related products including tableware, cookware, kitchen planning services and the Swedish Deli – IKEA's new restaurant concept.
The Swedish Deli is a café-like restaurant and serves several IKEA Restaurant staples like meatballs, hot dogs and coffee, including three new meatball dishes that are available exclusively at IKEA Toronto Downtown. While there is seating for approximately 30 people, the Swedish Deli is meant as more of a grab-and-go experience, with an extensive menu of beverages at very competitive prices and take-home foods like frozen meatballs.
In addition, the Swedish Deli will have longer operating hours than the rest of the store to accommodate early and late commuters, with a dedicated entrance on Gerrard Street for when the rest of the store is closed.
Moving up to the second floor, you'll find a wider array of products for the living room, bedroom, bathroom and home office, along with lighting, textiles, decor and even live plants.
The second floor also houses a dedicated customer service desk, where you can return or exchange any product purchased from any IKEA store in Canada, even large furniture items. An As-Is section can also be found next to the second floor checkout station, with a small selection of discontinued and slightly-used products from IKEA's Sell-Back Program.
Most products available at IKEA Toronto Downtown were chosen to suit the unique needs of Torontonians, including an emphasis on small-living spaces. For instance, two pre-built rooms in the store only measure approximately 300 and 500 sq. ft. to replicate the typical sizes of a Toronto condo.
During our tour, Store Manager Patrice Dreano frequently used the term "organize your living" to describe the intention of their product selection, a concept he picked up while managing IKEA stores in markets including Australia, China and France – in other words, organization is important if you have a small living space in order to maximize its potential.
In many ways, the phrase is the perfect metaphor for IKEA Toronto Downtown – it's smaller and carries fewer items than a typical IKEA store, but the products were carefully selected to cater to living in Downtown Toronto.
IKEA Toronto Downtown is scheduled to open on May 25, with store hours of 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM all seven days of the week.
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