Ikea to take over at Chester Homebase

Greyhound Retail Park will be one of three UK locations opened as scaled-down stores by the Swedish homewares giant this year.

The retailer said it wants to be closer to where customers live, work, socialise and shop. The gross internal area of the store is listed at 30,500 sq ft, with a mezzanine.

Although smaller than Ikea’s familiar model, the scaled-down stores will still offer a range of up to 5,000 product lines on display, with up to 3,000 available for immediate purchase and the full range discoverable through digital tools.

Ikea is also taking over ex-Homebase stores at Harlow and Norwich. The new store sizes follow an earlier move to open 1,000 sq ft ‘plan and order’ points, which are now operational in Aintree, Preston and Stockport.

The group also opened a Hammersmith location in 2022 at around a quarter of the size of its full-size stores.

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Seventy four Homebase leaseholds were put up for sale by administrator Teneo last November when the DIY group went under.

Aware of the pull its meatballs hold, Ikea also said the Chester store will offer a compact on-the-go food menu for customers to take away.

Peter Jelkeby, IKEA UK and Ireland chief executive, said: “We know many people want to shop with IKEA but in some instances are just too far away. That’s why we are strategically expanding our UK footprint, with the aim of showing up in convenient, accessible locations for our customers.

“In Chester we’ve been looking for the perfect location for many years. The site on the Greyhound Retail Park ensures visitors from across Cheshire, North Wales and surrounding areas have more convenient access to a local IKEA store.”

Customers in Chester will be able to follow familiar signage around the store, Ikea said. The store will offer customers design support, as well as click and collect services.

Samantha Dixon, MP for Chester North and Neston, said: “I am delighted to hear the fantastic news that IKEA will be opening a brand new store in Chester. This is a wonderful development for our city, and shows that Chester continues to attract investment and major brands. The arrival of IKEA will bring new jobs, new opportunities, and enhance our local economy.”

Ikea’s large-format stores in Warrington and Ashton-under-Lyne remain. The group has 21 full-scale stores and will this year open city stores in London’s Oxford Street and in Brighton.