Today IKEA announced plans to build a multimillion pound new store in Sheffield, but does Sheffield really needs its own IKEA? Although Sheffield is one of the largest cities in the UK not to have an IKEA store, it does have three all around an hour’s journey away. Manchester, Leeds and Nottingham are all commutable from Sheffield and all have good motorway connections. With this in mind do the people of Sheffield really need their own store?
When people make a visit to an IKEA store, they usually make a trip out, especially as the store is laid out in such a way that you have to go around the whole thing. The clever design makes it easy for you to fill your trolley on the way and collect information about furniture that you want, so you can collect it at the end. Before you know it, the few kitchen utensils that you came for has turned into new curtains, a set of draws and a coffee table and you didn’t even get the tin opener that you initially came for.
But back to the original question, does Sheffield need an IKEA? Having an IKEA in any city cannot be a bad thing. The plans for Sheffield include a 37,000 sq m store on unused land which was previously used for industrial purposes.
If the land is not in use, why not use it? The store would have all the aspects that you would expect to see in an IKEA store; showroom, warehouse, market hall, car park, crèche, restaurant and home deliveries section. The construction itself would create up to 200 jobs and once completed around 400 people would have permanent jobs in various roles, including sales, customer service, IT, marketing and interior design.
Speaking of the plans for Sheffield IKEA, Ian Nicholson, project manager for the Sheffield store, said: “An IKEA store in Sheffield will be a major boost to the whole city, not just in terms of jobs, but also by adding to the total retail offer. As is the case in cities across the UK, our store would complement, not compete with, the city centre retail offer.
“We are looking forward to introducing our plans to the local community in the coming weeks and hope as many people as possible attend the public exhibition to see for themselves what IKEA can offer to Sheffield.”
IKEA has yet to submit an application to Sheffield City Council as before they do, they want to hear from the local community. The public can view the store plans during a public exhibition on Friday 19th April and Saturday 20th April at the Millennium Galleries.
Are you from Sheffield? Do you welcome the plans to build an IKEA in the city or are you happy travelling to one nearby and making a day of it? Share your views with us below.
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