No IKEA for you

I sent a request to IKEA asking them to open a store in Atlantic Canada. This is their response:

At this time, there are no plans to open IKEA stores in any new Canadian markets. As you may know, IKEA is a private company so our rate of growth and expansion is perhaps less aggressive than what may be traditional in the retail industry. As a self-financing company, our current plans are to remodel and expand our existing Canadian stores and to open other locations within the same market. Many of our Canadian stores are at capacity so we will be working to improve our service in these areas to accommodate current and potential growth There is a well thought out list of criteria that needs to be met around the world for any new store to be considered (including market shares, population density, furniture spending, and household demographics etc.). IKEA International currently looks for new markets that have well over 1 million in population. The most recent store opening in North America was in Coquitlam, British Columbia, and Russia’s first store opened last summer in Moscow.
So you can now get oddly-named cheap furniture in Moscow, but not anywhere in Canada east of Montreal.

Comments

steve's picture
steve on April 12, 2008 - 20:01 Permalink

Costco store posponed due to contractor who won bid for building pulled out. Costco did not want to pay the other bidders for they raised their price for the job when they heard the orriginal contractor pulled out from the job!! Now to open late 2008. if thier lucky

Jenn's picture
Jenn on December 29, 2008 - 21:59 Permalink

I just called Costco in Halifax to find out when the Costco in Dartmouth was operning…they said May 2009

Glenn Halley's picture
Glenn Halley on February 27, 2009 - 21:35 Permalink

I tried many many times to contact Ikea’s head office to discuss our energy saving induction lighting, but to no avail. Our company promotes “green” & I would hope that Ikea has plans to have all their stores promote “Green” as well. Our “TruLite” product has savings between 50 -75% in energy costs. TruLite lamps are EMC compliant, having no electromagnic pollution & has a written 5 year warranty.
Thanks
Glenn Halley
MGInnovations

Cindy's picture
Cindy on March 15, 2009 - 21:59 Permalink

We really need an IKEA in the HRM area. They have so much more than furniture….my husband and I still have the IKEA furniture and textiles from 10 years ago when we purchased them while living in Germany. To say we don’t have the customer base is a load of crap. The new Dartmouth Crossing area would be the perfect location for an IKEA store.

Allison's picture
Allison on September 10, 2009 - 04:40 Permalink

I work at IKEA in Burlington, Ontario and I’ve heard rumours of an IKEA opening in Halifax. Several of my coworkers as well as a few managers were saying that there was one opening there soon. I really hope it’s true because I’m originally from Halifax and would love to move back but to also keep my job!

Somethin's picture
Somethin on November 18, 2009 - 22:39 Permalink

Ohhh because im sure boucherville who has an ikea with all its 37,000 people is alot better than Moncton or Halifax with populations over 200,000.

Sue's picture
Sue on December 19, 2009 - 01:57 Permalink

Hi there, so you work with Ikea. Just a question, do you like your job/career with Ikea; what do you do and what is your position. Do they pay well? Around how much hourly? Is it a good company to work for and do they treat their employes well? How is the overall morale with coworkers? and Management? Would you recommend working at Ikea to your best friend or if allowed to a family member? More than one question, I know. I’m very interested in Ikea as a company to work for. Thanks in advance for information you can answer! :)

Sue's picture
Sue on December 19, 2009 - 02:00 Permalink

Hi there, so you work with Ikea. Just a question, do you like your job/career with Ikea; what do you do and what is your position. Do they pay well? Around how much hourly? Is it a good company to work for and do they treat their employes well? How is the overall morale with coworkers? and Management? Would you recommend working at Ikea to your best friend or if allowed to a family member? More than one question, I know. I’m very interested in Ikea as a company to work for. Thanks in advance for information you can answer! :) (For Allison)

Ann-Marie Clements's picture
Ann-Marie Clements on May 28, 2010 - 03:25 Permalink

I started a petition to bring an IKEA to the Saint John, NB area in April 2010. My “ipetition” has 414 members signed to the petition and my Facebook Group “IKEA Saint John” has 583 members signed in. I believe if we make people aware of “choices”, the Maritimes will have more competitive companies coming here and prices will come down for consumers. Currently it the other way around, where prices for goods & services are too high, due to lack of competition… Costco finally opened here in Saint John today!!! If we can have a Costco, we can also have an IKEA… Let consumer choices bring better stores to the region and better products to choose from! >))

shauna's picture
shauna on August 7, 2010 - 19:39 Permalink

Do you order from Ikea online and get it delivered to Nova Scotia?

Chris D's picture
Chris D on December 5, 2010 - 14:29 Permalink

I beleive that we should have an Ikea in every province. I’ve read a coment on here and very much like their idea of a smaller Ikea with the catalog ordering feature. At that point Ikea would see the potential their missing.

Anonymousbun's picture
Anonymousbun on March 12, 2011 - 23:45 Permalink

no but its part of greater vancouver which has over 2 million people, 2 million = 2 IKEAS ;)

Lynn's picture
Lynn on April 10, 2011 - 00:39 Permalink

Ottawa does not have one million people and they have an Ikea. They draw from the surrounding areas and Hull, Que. Halifax has two Costco’s, as one wasn’t enough to keep up with demand. There are stores expanding to other areas of Halifax/Dartmouth to keep up with the demand from shoppers. There are a lot of young people in this area and they want choices. They will order from the US if necessary to get what they want. Unfortunately, ordering from Ikea isn’t always an option, because 80% of their merchandise isn’t available on-line. I think opening a store when there is one million people in an area is idiotic (who does their stats??). It doesn’t matter how many people live in a city if the majority are living in poverty. There is money in Halifax/Dartmouth and Nova Scotia, but I think Ikea is narrow minded and thinks of the Maritimes as a bunch of poor folk who are mainly unemployed and hunt and fish for a living — I lived in Ontario and that attitude is unfortunately common. So, shop local and if you need to order to get want you want — don’t order from Ikea — that’s my attitude!!

Michael Smith's picture
Michael Smith on June 28, 2011 - 13:49 Permalink

There is an independent Ikea buying and delivery service that offers reduced shipping charges to Ikea fans in Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax. www.facebook.com/myikeabuyer . They charge a 20% commission on total order value. This allows you to buy a $399 sofa and pay only $80 for shipping. You can pick up your product at their pitstop locations which are Irving Big Stops in Fredericton and Moncton. They also offer free home delivery for orders in excess of $500.

Ulrica Healy's picture
Ulrica Healy on February 23, 2012 - 15:24 Permalink

I agree with you Ann-Marie. St.John is a much better place for an IKEA store than Halifax. It is on the mainland for one thing and accessable for the rest of the Maritimes.
I do not think the ruling heads in Europe realize what a big country Canada is.
I do have a complaine though to the rulers of the copany.
Why have they taken away the good traditional Swedish food products like Kalles Kaviar? Other good products have been substituted with IKEA’s own brand which is of lower qualaty and does not taste the same at all?
I am very put off by this.

lifer's picture
lifer on March 24, 2012 - 03:03 Permalink

Hi Sue,

I also work at Ikea, it will be 14 years this October. I started out part time and now am management.  I still love my job, however it has changed quite a bit as the years have passed.  They still treat us fairly, starting rate is above minimum wage with yearly reviews and increases, profit sharing, great benefits (even for part time coworkers)  and there are lots of opportunities to succeed however it has unfortunately become more about the dollar than the coworker.  Ingvard would be disappointed if he was more involved still as this was one of Ikea’s cultures and values when I first started and to put family first.   It is still a good company to work for and in our store we treat each other almost like a family which is nice.  It makes all the difference if you like who you work with/for!  Overall morale is good, they do coworker surveys to affect change for the coworker when something is bad and yes I would recommend applying and working at Ikea.  All I can say is that it takes a special person to work here, you need to be able to multi task well and deal with a large number of customers in your personal space since it can get pretty crazy busy — especially on the weekends!   Hope that answered your questions… :)

Beth's picture
Beth on December 18, 2013 - 03:17 Permalink

It continues to baffle me that IKEA refuses to move to the Maritimes. Halifax/Dartmouth, with the announcement of a major ship building contract and big players like Costco announcing their fourth store in Nova Scotia you would think that IKEA would re-investigate the region. With average house prices in the mid $300k’s and the ever increasing younger population trending towards urban areas such as Halifax / Dartmouth you would think this would also influence IKEA. And if that isn’t enough, Dartmouth Crossing has the largest Canadian Tire and Walmart east of Montreal.. And to answer the 1 million persons population question, Nova Scotia has one million people already and would certainly draw those from other provinces who would rather save the driving time to Montreal.

My statement to those other Maritimes who are tired of hearing IKEA’s rejection to moving back to the area: Boycott. Boycott shopping in person when you travel. Boycott shopping online. They won’t support us, so let’s not support them.

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