IKEA opens 19th UK store
Home furnishing retail giant IKEA has opened the doors of its new Reading store.
The company celebrated the grand opening with a traditional tree planting ceremony hosted by Gillian Drakeford, IKEA UK & Ireland country retail manager, and Johanna Heuren, IKEA Reading store manager.
The IKEA team was also joined by Nicola Clase, Swedish ambassador, Roger Croft, leader of West Berkshire Council, and Quentin Webb, chairman of West Berkshire Council.
Employing over 370 people, the store is the first IKEA shop to be built in the UK in seven years, and the 19th store in the UK. It features over 50 inspirational room sets designed from dedicated home research in the Thames Valley, along with a restaurant seating over 450 people, a Swedish Food Market and a car park with around 1,000 spaces.
The 32,000 square metre store will provide the full IKEA product range of 9,500 products.
Drakeford said: “The opening of the IKEA Reading store marks the start of a significant period of growth for our business.
“We also have planning permission for a new store in Sheffield and outline planning permission to build stores in Greenwich and Exeter. This all form parts of our plans to make IKEA more accessible to more people and today is an important milestone.”
