Depending on where you live, a trip to Ikea might be the most inconvenient activity that could ever be added to your schedule. For New Yorkers, for example, the trip often requires blocking off a full weekend day — which, unfortunately also happens to be the busiest time to visit Ikea — and taking a train, riding a bus, boarding a ferry, renting a car, or sometimes, all four. With its out-of-the-way location and the massive number of customers the one New York City store serves, trips to Ikea are something many New Yorkers avoid at all cost, even if they are huge fans of the chain's prices and designs. If you count yourself among the city-dwellers that live in fear of Ikea visits, the home goods chain has some anxiety-altering news. Today, Ikea announced that it will be opening it's first-ever Manhattan location, and it will be specially designed for urban residents.
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Because Ikea stores require a lot of retail space for its sprawling showrooms and warehouses, most locations have been built outside of city centers, where space is hard to come by. Now, however, the company is introducing a new concept called the Ikea Planning Studio, which promises to be more accessible and convenient for city-dwellers. The first Ikea Planning Studio will be built in none other than midtown Manhattan, the busiest city center in the country.
According to Ikea, the first Planning Studio concept has been developed with help from real New Yorkers and will focus on "smart solutions for urban living and small spaces." The concept has been designed for customers to discover, select, and order Ikea products for delivery to their homes. If you're a New Yorker that has long been putting off heading to Ikea for a new couch, you need only wait until Spring 2019 to shop at this more accessible spot.
In addition to the new Ikea Planning Studio coming to Manhattan, New York City residents can expect a remodel of the Brooklyn store. These changes coupled with the recent opening of the new customer fulfillment center in Staten Island are meant to hopefully improve the Ikea shopping experience so New Yorkers may never again have to agonize over purchasing their favorite home pieces.
New Yorkers aren't the only ones that can get excited about the prospect of the Ikea Planning Studios concept. The location at 999 Third Avenue will be followed by 30 more in city centers across the country over the next three years. This could potentially mean the end of the dreaded trip to Ikea and the beginning of a more enjoyable experience shopping for affordable home goods.