Now, downtown Toronto dwellers don’t have to venture out of the city core to get an in-store IKEA fix (or their famous meatballs).
The Swedish furniture retailer’s first downtown location in Canada will soon welcome customers when the IKEA Toronto Downtown - Aura store officially opens for business on May 25.
IKEA Toronto Downtown - Aura is the first of its kind in the country and offers the same IKEA experience we shamelessly know and love, but with new ways to shop and a unique food offering -- all in a small store format. Located at the corner of Yonge and Gerrard Streets, the store brings its unique take on life at home to the first two floors of the Aura Shopping Centre (382 Yonge Street), which was acquired and redeveloped by Ingka Centres (the shopping centres business of Ingka Group).
A Focus on Condo-Sized Solutions
Customers can expect to see the retailer’s much-loved showroom inspiration throughout the space, but with a focus on affordable, sustainable, and small-space-living solutions that reflect the needs of Toronto residents (and their tiny living spaces). Rooms and displays are designed to represent life at home in Toronto. Smart digital solutions are available throughout the store for customers to explore all products, combinations and info available at IKEA Canada.
Image: IKEA
The 66,000 sq.-ft shopping destination will include more than 2,000 products for immediate takeaway, while larger furniture items will be on display and available for home delivery. IKEA Toronto Downtown - Aura will be a cashless store, where customers can scan and pay for products using the IKEA app, along with digital tools throughout, and multiple checkout lanes available on both levels. Foregoing the traditional shopping cart, customers are asked to download the IKEA app and scan items they wish to purchase as they browse.
Unlike other locations, the new Toronto store has no dedicated parking.
Like its larger counterparts in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), however, the store will offer a complete range of convenient services, like assembly, returns, and home delivery, and customers will be able to collect their online orders for a flat rate fee at a pick-up point located in the lower level of the Aura Shopping Centre.
Image: IKEA
“Opening our first store in the heart of Toronto's vibrant downtown core is an important milestone in our retail transformation to bring IKEA closer to where customers live, work, shop and socialize,” said IKEA Canada CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Ward. “IKEA Toronto Downtown - Aura combines our home furnishing inspiration and expertise with omnichannel retail solutions in a small store format to uniquely meet the needs of downtown residents. We're excited to welcome the local community to experience this new IKEA when we open on May 25.”
IKEA Toronto Downtown - Aura also features a new food concept called the Swedish Deli, offering modern, healthy meals and speciality beverages to eat in, along with on-the-go food options and sustainably sourced essentials to cook at home. Naturally, IKEA’s classic Swedish meatballs will be a mainstay (as will hot dogs and frozen yoghurt), along with new recipes that are designed to satisfy the tastes of a diverse Toronto community.
Image: IKEA
IKEA Toronto Downtown - Aura is the 15th IKEA store in Canada and joins a growing network in the Greater Toronto Area that includes four full-size IKEA stores, 15 Penguin Pick-up locations, and eight Design studios.
Grand opening celebrations at the retailer’s first downtown store will begin at 9:20 am on May 25 at the site and the store will welcome its first customers through the doors at 10:00 am. During opening week, IKEA Canada will use a digital queuing system that will be made available soon at IKEA.ca/torontodowntown. Customers are encouraged to secure a place in line in advance of opening day at IKEA Toronto Downtown - Aura; walk-ups are not guaranteed a place in line.
