First look: Inside Ikea’s highly anticipated Oxford Street store

Ikea is opening the doors to its long-awaited Oxford Street flagship this week, 18 months after initially scheduled.

The Swedish furniture giant has spent the last three years transforming the 5,800sqm space that was once home to Topshop into a mecca for home decor lovers.

The inner city store – a relatively new concept for the retailer – is housed inside the Grade II-listed building at 214 Oxford Street and spans across three floors.

Ikea UK chief executive Peter Jelkeby says the group’s central London store “will be an Ikea many know and love, with some new features exclusive to this iconic city centre store”.

Shoppers can expect to see the retailer’s staple showroom of inspiration room sets, market hall, and Swedish Deli.

It also houses a new Live Studio and the retailer’s “curated shops” concept, featuring collections of products put together by local artists, employees and families.

Ikea London City market manager Matt Gould says: “With this store, we really want to try and attract new customers to Ikea and get them excited around the brand again.”

The retailer’s occupancy of the once iconic and long empty former Topshop will be a shot in the arm for Oxford Street’s ongoing resurgence. But, with overseas shoppers unlikely to spend on bulky big-ticket items, will the Swedish homeware titan’s central city offering be enough to lure Londoners into Zone 1?

Ikea Oxford Street is not the first City store the retailer has opened, with the concept first debuting in London Hammersmith back in 2022.

The small-format stores form part of the retailer’s strategy to be more accessible to customers and reach more urban consumers that are less likely to travel to its big box suburban stores.

Jelkeby describes Ikea Oxford Street as “the next generation of Hammersmith”, adding the new space marks “a milestone in our journey to becoming more accessible”.

Around 6,000 products are on display in the store, with 3,500 home furnishing accessories and small furniture items such as its Kallax unit and Lack coffee table, which are available to buy and take home that day.

Keen to lean into the significance of opening on Oxford Street, the retailer has also debuted a more interactive and immersive experience than a traditional big-box Ikea.

“We know that the experience that customers want, especially here in Oxford Street, is heightened, and they are expecting something new, different and unique,” says Gould.

Perhaps this is why the ground floor feels more like an exhibition art space, with a large display in front showcasing Ikea’s new Stockholm collection and its “curated shops” concept.

Around the corner is a small range of Ikea merchandise including water bottles and branded bucket hats for local and international tourists to purchase, products exclusive to the Ikea City stores.

“That is the fun part of the brand that we want everybody to interact with,” says Gould.

However, arguably the standout feature of the store is the 25sqm Live Studio which the retailer will use to host interactive events and exhibitions.

While its Ikea branded merchandise and 130-seater Swedish Deli will please all shoppers, Jelkeby shares the store itself has been designed “with Londoners in mind”.

This includes specially created room sets in its showroom, curated by London designers and customers, reflecting the various living arrangements seen in the capital.

“Whether that be the size of a room set that might be more related to small space living in London, or whether that be more of the personality that we get from different people that live in London and the diversity that we see in a customer base,” says Gould, referencing the Kallax display filled with Vinyls or the colourful curated sets.

Dividing the room sets in the showroom are what the retailer describes as video tunnels, where customers walking through can listen to Londoners talk about their challenges at home, what they love about the city, and how Ikea can solve their storage solutions.

Ikea has also played with scent in the store, such as baking smells in the kitchen area to provide customers with a “real immersion into London homes”.

The floor is also home to three complimentary one-to-one design consultations for kitchens, bedroom storage and general décor, which can be pre-booked or available on the day.

Ikea Oxford Street is a store that will serve the city well, but will its big bet pay off?

The retailer has worked hard to curate a store fit for the London consumer in terms of product ranges and providing an omnichannel retail experience.

That said, Gould shares the store is not all about the direct sales – after all, it will also attract the millions of tourists walking around outside.

“Being on Oxford Street, we do expect international visitors as well…[they] don’t necessarily always have to shop here in this store,” says Gould, adding the retailer is hoping to inspire customers to shop with the brand wherever they live.

Ikea Oxford Street is the retailer’s second City concept store, and will shortly be followed by a third location in Brighton this summer.

The furniture giant is keen to ramp up its expansion of the format with new openings in the former Homebase units in Harlow, Chester, and Norwich.

“We do see this [concept] as being the future. We do have the locations on the table,” says Gould, who remains tight lipped on where the retailer is considering.

Upcoming locations aside, Oxford Street is by far the biggest bet Ikea has taken on its city centre format to date – and, if successful with locals and tourists alike, it could have a major impact on the homeware’s chain’s global store estate in years to come.

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