IKEA has confirmed its long‑awaited New Zealand debut, announcing that its flagship store at Auckland’s Sylvia Park will open to the public on December 4 — both in‑store and online.
“I’m proud we can finally deliver the good news to New Zealanders that exactly three months from today, on December 4, IKEA will open its doors,” according to Mirja Viinanen, CEO and chief sustainability officer for IKEA Australia and New Zealand. “We appreciate the excitement shown by Kiwis and are grateful for the country’s patience as we have been busy laying the foundations of our first home in Aotearoa.”
Wood Central understands that construction on the 34,000‑square‑metre, three‑storey store began in June 2023, with an external warehouse near Auckland Airport completed late last year. Developed by Kiwi Property Group and built by Naylor Love, it uses 4,800 tonnes of structural steel — about double IKEA’s standard — to meet New Zealand’s stringent earthquake regulations.
IKEA New Zealand market manager Johanna Cederlöf said her team is “eagerly counting down the days” until opening. “For many, it will be their very first experience of what it is like being in an IKEA store – surrounded by inspiring home furnishing solutions, tailored to New Zealand homes and the way we live.”
In August, IKEA previewed some of the products chosen for the store after commissioning its “Life at Home Report New Zealand,” which explored what Kiwis want in their homes. The line‑up includes the Mackapär shoe rack, Kallax shelving unit, Billy bookcase, Uppdatera storage box and Ikea 365+ food storage range. The Sylvia Park store will also feature IKEA’s signature Swedish dishes, including its famous meatballs.
Karen Pflug, chief sustainability officer for IKEA’s parent company Ingka Group, visited the site earlier this year. “I’m definitely not a construction expert, but I was extremely impressed with it and the amount of work,” she told RNZ. “New Zealand has a lot of safety measures and really high‑quality specs because we’re in a seismic area… it’s been state‑of‑the‑art and a real world‑class store that we’re building. And… it’s also going to be world‑class from a sustainability point of view, having a five‑star rating with sustainability criteria, so that really excites me.”
The store will join IKEA’s network of more than 400 outlets in 61 countries. The company — the world’s third‑largest consumer of timber products — has been a fixture in Australia for 50 years. Its expansion into New Zealand comes as IKEA pivots away from Europe to focus on North America, Asia (including India) and Oceania, with Ingka Group investing more than €5 billion to grow its presence across 31 new markets.
