Ikea has pushed back the opening date for the store it is creating in the former Topshop Oxford Circus site for the second time due to allow it to fix leaks in the historic building’s basement.
The Swedish furniture retailer has said the new store will now open in Spring 2025. The original planned opening was in the Autumn of last year and this was then pushed back to the Autumn of this year.
Ingka Investment, the investment arm of the retail group, bought the Grade II listed building at 214 Oxford Street after former Topshop owner Arcadia fell into administration at the end of 2020. The Topshop brand was acquired by ASOS, which declined to take on any of its stores.
Ikea emerged as the purchaser of the prime retail site (it bought it in a £378 million deal) and work started on the building, which is currently covered in a giant blue Ikea bag hoarding, in 2022.
(David Parry/PA)
Last year however, it revealed that its original opening plan had been pushed to autumn 2024 due to the scale of refurbishment work. Today it has said the shop will now be opening in Spring 2025 due to the “hugely complex” nature of the renovation.
Ikea said work across all seven floors of the building – which create new store and four floors of office space – has seen “significant progress” but it had seen faced “unexpected conditions” during the process.
Ikea said it recently discovered the need for unforeseen additional work on the lower of two basement levels to control a water leak. Work on this is currently under way.
Peter van der Poel, managing director of Ingka Investments, said: “Ikea Oxford Street is a one-of-a-kind project, involving the sensitive and sustainable upgrade of a Grade II listed building that is over a hundred years old.
“Following the discovery of an unforeseen water ingress issue, we’re now taking vital steps to mitigate long-term flood risk, and to protect and future-proof this historic building for many years to come.”
Peter Jelkeby, CEO and chief sustainability officer of Ikea UK, added: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the interest and excitement generated around our Oxford Street opening.
“The historic nature of the building makes its careful renovation more complex, but we want to ensure Londoners that we’re just as excited to open the store as they are to visit it.
“We look forward to doing so in spring 2025 and contributing to a positive future for London’s most renowned shopping district.”
The former Topshop store
The joint Topshop and Topman store was opened at Oxford Circus in 1994 and at the time it was claimed to be the biggest fashion store in the world and became famous for pioneering experiential retail with in-store DJs and beauty services. It was a Mecca for fashion-hungry teens and twenty-something shoppers, who poured out of Oxford Circus tube station and straight into the store, and was a well-known hot-spot for fashion model scouts. Its closure in 2021 sparked an outpouring of sadness and nostalgic reminiscing from its many fans.
