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IKEA UK has announced that its new Planning Studio at Bromley in south-east London will open on Thursday (March 28).
IKEA Bromley will be the retailer’s second Planning Studio to open in London, following the opening of its first on Tottenham Court Road in October 2018.
The Studio will be located at the former Mothercare and Early Learning Centre site on Bromley High Street and will offer a personalised service dedicated to planning bedrooms and kitchens.
Customers will have the opportunity to book one-to-one in-store appointments with specialist staff, aimed at ‘ensuring an easy and convenient way to get the advice and inspiration they need’ to browse, plan and order furniture for a bigger project in their home.
IKEA Bromley will also feature a community room: a flexible space which the local community can use to host events, workshops, meetings and training sessions. The space will be available to hire for up to 20 people.
There will also be areas for customers to relax in, with soft seating across the store and a demo kitchen for food activities and events.
IKEA London City Centre Market Leader Jane Bisset said: “The opening of our new Planning Studio in Bromley will mark the next exciting step in our city centre approach as we bring IKEA to the heart of urban areas in London. We’re excited to introduce a community room to this particular Planning Studio, which we encourage the people of Bromley to take full advantage of.”
As with every store opening, IKEA carried out home visits with people living in central Bromley, observing daily tasks such as cooking a meal in their kitchen, to help fully understand their life at home – so this could be reflected in the Studio.
Jane continued: “Through the home visits, we were able to gather local insights to ensure the Studio reflected the needs of the community. We identified that kitchens are no longer just for cooking, but a multi-use space for socialising, work and more. We can also see from the local area that open-plan living is on the rise, so we knew we had to create an inspiring offering that would help people make the most of every space.”
In addition to the Bromley and Tottenham Court Road Planning Studios, IKEA UK opened its leading sustainable store in Greenwich on February 7. This is in addition to existing full-sized London stores in Wembley, Tottenham, Croydon, and Lakeside. IKEA is currently exploring other locations in London for similar outlets.
To find out more about IKEA Planning Studios, visit:https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/ikea/ikea-planning-studio/
