Ikea to open plan-and-order homeware outlet in Cork suburb

It will allow customers to order bespoke kitchen and wardrobe designs and get assistance in the planning of any room in their home.

Customers will be able to book an appointment to design their kitchen or bedroom with a planning specialist or use self-service tools to do it themselves.

The products can then be ordered in-store for delivery to their home.

Ikea declined today to confirm the exact location — a spokesperson would only confirm that it plans to open its Cork outlet in spring. The new owners of the shopping centre were not available for comment today.

However, work on the fit-out of the unit, next to the shopping centre’s longest-established traders, Bresnan’s Family Butchers, is already under way.

It could be open within two months, local sources suggested.

The opening of the plan-and-order point is part of the company’s ongoing expansion of its physical retail presence in Ireland.

It opened plan-and-order points in Naas, Co Kildare, and in St Stephen’s Green in Dublin city centre within the last year, and another in Drogheda last month.

After the Cork outlet opens, Ikea plans to open another in Portlaoise before the end of 2023.

The company also plans to open its first distribution centre in Ireland this year, to allow for quicker deliveries here, and it is reportedly seeking to develop another large store here.

Ikea’s vast store in Ballymun was the most popular Ikea outlet in terms of turnover out of its 378 stores worldwide following the lifting of covid-19 restrictions in May 2021, and it remains one of the group’s most successful stores worldwide.