IKEA will expand options for urban customers on the West Coast with two planning studios in the Los Angeles area set to open in spring 2022: one in Long Beach and a second in a yet-to-be-determined location. The shops will focus on providing inspiration and smart home solutions for city living as part of IKEA’s efforts to better meet the needs of its California customers.
Shoppers will be able to book appointments with design specialists to help with both planning and ordering home furnishings. The studios will focus on the more complex rooms in the house such as kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms.
The stores won’t carry any inventory, but they will arrange transportation of orders either to shoppers’ homes or to other convenient points of delivery. The idea for the studios was derived from market research that looked into the logistical barriers IKEA’s customers face, how they like to shop, how they live at home and other queries.
“Understanding that many L.A.-area residents are often frustrated by being stuck in traffic, we identified geographic areas in the market that are beyond a 30-minute drive from existing stores and where affinity to IKEA is extremely high,” said Janet McGowan, Area Vice President, IKEA U.S. in a statement. “By opening the two planning studios in the L.A. market, we are taking the first steps to create customer meeting points that are more accessible and convenient to the many people of the L.A. market while continuing to offer smart and affordable home solutions.”
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While these will be the first IKEA planning studios on the West Coast, this isn’t the retailer’s first iteration of the concept. The first planning studio opened in Manhattan in spring 2019 and features access to the TaskRabbit service, which lets shoppers book a “Tasker” to assemble their purchases.
