Ikea Ireland Manager reveals key details on new Waterford store as opening date revealed
Situated at Tramore Road Business Park at the former Mum N Me’ mother and baby store premises, the new location will be IKEA's largest store outside of Dublin.
IKEA will be opening its Waterford store on July 17.
Situated at Tramore Road Business Park at the former Mum N Me’ mother and baby store premises, the new location will be IKEA's largest store outside of Dublin.
The store is what's known as an ‘IKEA Plan and Order Point’.
Spanning 840 sqm, the Plan and Order Point is slightly smaller than IKEA's Carrickmines store in South Dublin (approximately 1,393 sqm), however, it is over eight times larger than all other existing Plan and Order Points in Ireland, which typically range from 70-100 sqm.
Plan and Order Points are Ikea stores dedicated to kitchen, bedroom, and living room planning.
Whilst these stores typically have few or no items available to purchase and take home on the day, the new Waterford store is the first Plan and Order Point in the country, which will be expanded to include goods that can be bought instore on the same day.
"Our store in Waterford will be a significant development from the other Plan and Order Points,” Market Manager for IKEA Ireland, Jayne Owen Gauld told the Waterford News & Star.
“At the moment we have six Plan and Order Points in the Republic of Ireland. In those we don’t offer ‘take home today’, we just offer the planning.
“In Waterford, we wanted to expand our Plan and Order offer and we’re going to have 100 take away products. In our other Plan and Order Points there’s perhaps only four or five different examples of kitchen displays but in this one we’re actually going to have 22 ‘areas of inspiration’ around the unit."
Additionally, the store will provide a Click & Collect service, allowing customers to order any IKEA item online and pick-up locally free of charge. It will also serve as an in-store returns location, the first of its kind in the Republic.
While retaining its core focus on kitchen, wardrobe, and living room storage planning, the Waterford Plan and Order Point will also feature a dedicated section with 100 different IKEA products available for immediate purchase.
Products on offer will range from popular Ikea accessories like KALLAX units and RÅSKOG trolleys, to essential home items and products for €5 or less.
Approximately 25% of the products available in store will be under €5.
15 new co-workers from the Waterford area will be recruited.
“It’s all local people,” Ms. Gauld confirmed.
“We have a new unit manager and five specialist planners to aid with planning kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms. We are starting with five but we’re hoping that's only the very beginning.
"The rest of the coworkers are extremely competent in supporting with Click and Collect."
The new location will operate on a cashless basis, accepting card and digital payments only.
Ms. Gauld said, “Particularly after Covid and the changing economy, less and less people are using cash. We know that some people still prefer cash, but we made the decision here to go cashless.
"We will make this unit cashless and then assess how that feels for the customer. We will have plenty of coworkers there to support the customer with their payment method."
