Ikea Canada Opens Small-Format Store Downtown Toronto

Ikea Canada opened its first store in downtown Toronto on May 25 at the mixed-use Aura skyscraper.

The store is the first of its kind in Canada. The small format offers the furniture retailer’s signature experience, along with new, convenience-inspired ways to shop as well as a unique food experience. It's located at the “transit-friendly corner” of Yonge and Gerrard Streets, and the first two floors of the store offer shoppers a “unique take on life at home,” according to a news release. The store offers the retailer's beloved showroom inspiration throughout with a focus on affordable, sustainable and small-space-living solutions.

"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 in the release. "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.”

The 66,000-square-foot shopping destination includes more than 2,000 products for immediate takeaway, while larger furniture items are on display and available for home delivery. This location is a cashless store, allowing shoppers to scan and pay for products using the Ikea mobile app, along with digital tools throughout and multiple checkout lanes available on both levels.

The store offers a complete range of services such as assembly, planning, returns and home delivery. Shoppers can collect online orders for a flat-rate fee at a pickup point located in the lower level of the Aura shopping centre.

Ikea Toronto Downtown – Aura also features a new food concept called the Swedish Deli, offering modern, health-focused meals and specialty beverages as well as on-the-go food options and sustainably sourced essentials to cook at home. The store offers its popular classic Swedish meatballs plus new recipes designed “to satisfy the tastes of a diverse Toronto community,” per the release.

During opening week, Ikea Canada is using a digital queuing system via Ikea.ca/torontodowntown for shoppers to secure a place in line in advance of the grand opening.

This new location is the fifteenth Ikea store in Canada and joins a growing Ikea network in the Greater Toronto area that includes four full-size Ikea stores, 15 Penguin pick-up locations, and eight Design studios.