The new Oxford Street IKEA opens today in London, and will give shoppers 3 floors to shop - but how does that compare to other IKEAs?
How big is IKEA Oxford Street?
London's latest IKEA, at 214 Oxford Street, is in a 7 storey Grade II building which is being given an "extensive environmental upgrade". The displays will include the markethall we all know and love, the option to design your kitchen, but also exclusive roomsets designed by Londoners for Londoners. Quite what that will look like we'll need to wait and see!
The retail space will be on 3 of the building's 7 floors - the ground floor and the lower 2 floors. This will give Oxford Street's IKEA a retail space of 5,800 square metres.
How big are other IKEAs?
When I read it was going to be 5,800 square metres, that didn't really help me visualise how big it would be, so I researched other IKEAs. For comparison, the size of some others are:
- Bristol IKEA: 18,580 square metres
- Greenwich IKEA: 32,000 square metres
- Milton Keynes IKEA: 32,000 square metres
- Wembley IKEA (possibly the largest): 40,000 square metres
So actually, you're not going to spend half a day wandering around the new Oxford Street IKEA, like you can some others.
A cheap lunch in central London
You can go for lunch though, as the new store will include a 130-seater Swedish Deli, where you can buy the famous IKEA hot dog for just 75p, or their iconic Swedish meatballs with lingonberry jam, cream and mash for £4.95. This makes 214 Oxford Street a very cheap central London cafe for when you're exploring the city - read our busy day in London itinery here which took us down Oxford Street.
