IKEA will open its first store in Auckland, New Zealand in December this year as part of its broader investment global and expansion strategy.

Alongside the store, IKEA will, for the first time when entering a new market, launch nationally through out-of-home collection points and home delivery.

Commenting on LinkedIn ,Tolga Öncu, Ingka Retail Manager at IKEA Retail, said: “We’re not just landing in Auckland, in addition to nationwide home deliveries, we will make IKEA truly accessible from day one by also opening 29 Pick-Up Points in all parts of the country.”

Over 7,500 items from the IKEA range will be available for purchase for New Zealand customers. A Buy Back service will also be available making, rehoming furniture easier and more sustainable.

When it opens, New Zealand will become the first new market for the largest IKEA retailer since 2021, when a store was opened in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Located in New Zealand’s biggest shopping centre, the 34,000 m² store is larger than the average IKEA store.

Globally, the retailer continues to diversify its store format to include smaller, urban locations like the central Brighton store which opened in August this year, marking the arrival of IKEA’s third UK city‑centre location after London’s Oxford Street and Hammersmith stores. In total, IKEA says more than €5 billion will be invested by 2027 in opening new locations and optimising the existing ones.

“The interest and anticipation for IKEA in New Zealand can be felt all the way to Sweden, and we are very humbled by it. Welcoming a new country to the IKEA family always brings special emotions, and we could not be more excited to meet the Kiwis soon and support them in achieving their needs and dreams for life at home,” commented Öncu.

The opening comes 50 years after the first IKEA store opened in Sydney, Australia.