Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 18 december 2019
Ikea moving into city centers to adapt to consumer changes

By VANESSA GERA towards urban living and a
Associated Press rebirth of the cities."
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — "While Ikea used to be
An airport worker drops by able to build its big blue
Warsaw's newest Ikea store warehouses on the edge
during her lunch break to of towns and cities and
finish up plans for a home expect shoppers to come
refurbishment. Around her, to them, now it has recog-
people drift in and out of nized it needs to be more
the shop, placing small flexible in its approach and
houseware items in big yel- take the Ikea experience
low bags as cafe tables fill to them, through digital
up with people just stop- channels and smaller stores
ping in for lunch. closer to where people live
The store is not one of Ikea's and work," Slide said.
out-of-the-way, maze-like Ikea isn't the first to em-
warehouses that require a brace such an approach.
car to visit, but a shop like In the U.S., retailer Tar-
any other in a city center get has rolled out smaller
shopping mall. stores to broaden its reach.
The Swedish retailing gi- French hardware store Le-
ant plans to open 30 such roy Merlin has done the
smaller stores in major cities same, as have Kingfisher-
around the world as part owned DIY store B&Q and
of a transformation that is sofa retailer DFS in Britain.
costing the company fi- In this Friday Nov. 22, 2019 photo, Andreas Flygare, the project manager for the new Warsaw Ikea "While Ikea may not be on
nancially but is needed to store presents a system projecting furniture interior a wall, in Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press the cutting edge of this
adapt to changing con- trend, it's an important strat-
sumer habits. one-fourth of a traditional room projects. Next year a quite tough environment. egy to prepare the business
Compared with just a de- big-box store. smaller stores are also due Everything is changing so for the future," Slide said.
cade ago, shoppers are Shoppers can buy cushions, to open in Paris and Tokyo. fast." "The challenge will be add-
more likely to be living in curtains and other home "Ikea's been doing pret- The company, whose ing extra services through
urban areas and not have items. They can design the ty much the same for 70 founder Ingvar Kamprad additional channels while
a car, and often want a layout of bedrooms and years. It's been a cash-and- died in January, has seen also maintaining profitabil-
nearby location to look at kitchens at computer sta- carry company, and it still is business growth slow in re- ity."
goods like furniture in per- tions. But those hoping to for the majority of its sales," cent years. But updating Chen Yu Ting, a 25-year-old
son before ordering things buy a bookcase or bed will said Andreas Flygare, the its business model to rein- from Taiwan who studies
online. not find them stocked in a project manager for the vigorate sales is not com- medicine in Warsaw, said it
"I like the idea because large warehouse, though Warsaw store. Now, he ex- ing cheap. On Wednes- used to take him 40 minutes
you can come any time," they can order them at ki- plained, the company must day, it reported that its by bus to visit one of the
said 29-year-old Angelika osks and have them deliv- adapt to a consumer envi- operating profit for the full large Ikea stores outside
Singh, the airport worker, as ered to their homes. ronment that has changed year through August had the city. But he is a short
she finalized an order for a As such, it offers a very dif- dramatically in the last 10 dropped 26 percent to 2.25 walk to the new store, and
new kitchen. "Mostly when ferent shopping experi- years. billion euros ($2.55 billion) after an initial trip to buy
you go to Ikea you need to ence from the usual visit to "You have companies like as it increased spending pillows and bed sheets he
have a whole day free, or one of the large warehouse Amazon and Uber that are on the new stores as well as now returns often for lunch,
at least half a day free, be- stores. raising the bar for what is delivery services and its on- which is priced right for his
cause it's far." Small stores have also expected. Because if you line offerings. budget.
Warsaw's store is located opened in major cities like can have same-day deliv- Thomas Slide, senior re- "It's more convenient, and
on two floors covering Madrid and London, which ery, or an Uber is two min- tail analyst at the market now I just come here to
nearly 5,000 square meters has a small new "planning utes away, it influences oth- research firm Mintel, de- eat," he said.
(54,000 square feet), about studio" for kitchen and bed- er companies, like Ikea," he scribed Ikea's new ap- His only complaint? The
said in a recent interview in proach as a rational re- store doesn't stock frozen
the store's cafe. "It can be sponse to a "global trend meatballs.q

In this Friday Nov. 22, 2019 photo, a customer looks at a table
with a projected arrangement at a new Ikea store, in Warsaw,
Poland. In this Friday Nov. 22, 2019 photo, people visit a new Ikea store, in Warsaw, Poland.
Associated Press Associated Press