IKEA to open a giant store on the site of Topshop in central London

The new three-story store is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2023.

INGKA Group, which runs IKEA’s retail business, has agreed to buy the building in central London that previously housed the flagship department store of Topshop, the British fashion retailer. The total cost of the deal is estimated to be $520 million, Bloomberg News Agency wrote. 

We are talking about a seven-story building with an area of over 22,000 square meters. IKEA will open its three-level store within its business development strategy in convenient urban locations worldwide. The new store is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2023. 

Information about the possible purchase of the building first emerged back in September 2020. It was assumed that British billionaire Philip Green, the fashion empire Arcadia Group owner, would direct the proceeds to pay debts. The company later filed for bankruptcy, and online retailer Asos took over the rights for Topshop and Topman in early 2022.

IKEA, which for a long time had been building its strategy on creation of big shopping centers on the suburbs of megacities, during the last years preferred to develop small formats in locations with high customer traffic. New conceptual city stores in several thousand square meters are opened in London, Paris, Moscow, Vienna, and other cities.