IKEA Closes the 7-story Store in The UK Due to Revenue Drop

The retailer calculates losses from traditional retail channels as consumers move online.

International retailers are calculating the cost of traditional retailing as consumers move online around the world. Today it became known that Swedish furniture giant IKEA is preparing to close one of its largest stores in the UK. The seven-story furniture center in Coventry will be closed in the summer of 2020. 

IKEA has confirmed plans to close the retail site, which received its first customers back in 2007. After the closing, about 350 jobs will be reduced. The company stresses that the cost of maintenance of such retail stores is becoming more and more significant due to the drop in traffic and the shift of customers to online orders. 

“Changing consumer behavior in the area, which prefers to shop in small malls and on the Internet, has led to a much lower number of visitors than expected and continues to decline. These factors have resulted in constant losses to the store,” the company commented. IKEA has been operating in the UK since 1987 and operates 22 stores. Despite the closure in Coventry, the company has not changed its plans to develop and launch new stores in the country. 

At the same time, IKEA developing a new concept car-free store in the center of Vienna, Austria.