Global home furnishings giant Ikea plans to open four more of its new small-format locations in the United States this year, all part of the Swedish retailer's $2.2 billion strategy to expand its reach across America.
Ikea, known for selling affordable ready-to-assemble furniture in big-box stores internationally, said on Thursday it plans to roll out the additional locations in Austin, Texas, and the Atlanta metropolitan area, as well as debut two sites in the greater Los Angeles market, with "more to come."
The Austin store will be the second Ikea location in the area and is slated to open this summer in the Domain Shopping Center at 3306 Esperanza Crossing.
The new format stores, a big departure from Ikea's typical enormous retail locations, aim to increases accessibility for customers across the nation, according to the chain. At the new sites, shoppers can receive support from Ikea experts to plan and order furnishing for their kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. With the addition of the Ikea plan-and-pickup stores, customers will be able to collect their purchases when and where it's convenient for them, the retailer said.
In April last year, Ikea said it planned to beef up its U.S. brick-and-mortar presence, investing about $2.2 billion over three years to open eight big-box stores, nine smaller plan-and-pickup locations and 900 pickup sites. The retailer is aiming to compete with rivals such as discounter Target and online furniture sellers such as Wayfair.
In addition to the new locations announced on Thursday, Ikea said it it will open plan-and-pickup sites in Annapolis and Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Katy, Texas. And in December, the plan-and-point Ikea Fairfax opened its doors in Fairfax Corner at 4206 Fairfax Corner Ave. W in Fairfax, Virginia, leasing with 4,458 square feet. It joins Ikea large-format stores in Woodbridge, Virginia, and College Park, Maryland.
Ikea also debuted several of the smaller-format locations last year, including one in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, at 400 S. Carroll Ave. at the Park Village shopping center, and in Arlington, Virginia, at the Pentagon Centre shopping center at 1201 S. Hayes St.
"Looking ahead, we are excited about our plans for new locations and services bringing the joy of Ikea to more hearts and homes," Javier Quiñones, CEO and chief sustainability officer at Ikea U.S., which is based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
Ikea also released its fiscal 2023 summary, reporting that it had a record year, with over $6.3 billion in total sales of goods and services, achieving 6.6% growth compared to the previous year despite the prevailing economic challenges.
The retailer opened ultra-fast public electric vehicle chargers at several stores and will install a total of 500 public-fast chargers and more than 300 fleet chargers in the coming years, according to the report.
Ingka Group is a strategic partner in the Ikea franchise system, operating 375 stores in 30 countries , including 51 in the United States.