Sales at Ikea Ireland climbed 14 per cent to €216.7 million in the year to the end of August 2022, according to the furniture and homewares retailer, with sales of Lodrät pint glasses and picture frames higher in its Dublin store than in any other Ikea store in the world.
The Swedish-owned company said the double-digit sales growth came as customers continued to invest in their homes post-pandemic.
Ikea Ireland’s total online sales have doubled compared with its 2019 financial year, it said. Consumers also started coming back to the Ikea store, with store visits increasing 70 per cent year-on-year to more than 3 million.
The retailer reported “strong appetite” from customers investing in their homes, with growth seen across all areas, particularly within kitchen and dining equipment, textiles and storage.
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Ikea plans to invest in new “plan and order” points, its first Irish distribution centre and new delivery capabilities, as well as developing its existing flagship store in Ballymun, Dublin.
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It said it would revamp the children and bedroom departments, which are “two of the most popular sections” in the store, and also reopen Småland, its free play area for the convenience of customers who come to Ikea with their children.
It opened two plan and order points last year in Naas, Co Kildare, and in St Stephen’s Green shopping centre in Dublin. These will be followed by a plan and order point in Drogheda, Co Louth, which will be followed by one in Cork and another in Portlaoise, Co Laois. The retailer also has an order and collection point in Carrickmines, Dublin.
Ikea said Dublin was its number one store in the world for sales of cooking and eating accessories, and was also the store that had sold the most Lodrät pint glasses, with almost three times more of such glasses sold in Dublin than in the number two store.
Ikea Dublin is also the number one store for home decoration sales, with no other store selling as many frames.
Pay for hourly paid workers at Ikea Ireland has increased to €13.85 per hour, it said, with salaried workers receiving a rise of 6 per cent on average.
“A post-pandemic backdrop of increased living costs, supply chain challenges and macroeconomic instability inevitably shaped our business in 2022,” said Ikea UK and Ireland country deputy retail manager Marsha Smith.
Ikea Ireland’s sales rise reflects the retailer’s “financial stability and resilience” amid a period of great change, she added.
