IKEA, Goods | IKEA opens in central Oslo with a new virtual room.

The issue is updated

Oslo, Karl Johans Gate (Netafsen): Many were ready even before IKEA's new flagship investment in central Oslo opened.

With this, IKEA is launching something completely new in Norway.

See more photos at the bottom of the case

600 pieces you can buy

This is a kind of compromise between a department store and a so-called planning studio. In recent years, IKEA has opened planning studios in several Norwegian cities, but in these cities you can only order goods, not buy anything to take home.

The store, which is located in the middle of Karl Johans Gate in central Oslo, has 1,500 items on display and 600 of them can be purchased in-store.

In addition, you can shop, for example, for frozen pizza at the IKEA “Food Shop” and you can buy coffee and cinnamon buns at the IKEA Café.

Henriette Prien (25 years old) was among those standing in line.

“I'm here early because I work tonight and I want to stop by on opening day,” she told Netavisen.

She thinks it's practical to have an IKEA store downtown.

– I and many people I know think it can be difficult to find time to go. Good with a closer location.

Fact: IKEA is in the center of Oslo

The department store opened at 10:00 on 30 May 2024

The store in central Oslo is actually a planning and ordering point, as IKEA has done in many Norwegian cities. But this store differs in that it is much larger and that you can choose from several hundred items that you can buy for home from the store.

There are 1,500 items on display in the store,

You can purchase 600 of the items displayed in the store and take them home.

You can otherwise order goods in store from the entire IKEA catalogue.

The store has a “food shop” where you can, for example, buy frozen pizza or meatballs.

There is a café in the store where you can buy coffee, cinnamon buns and soft serve ice cream, among other things.

News

The department store in central Oslo has an area of 1,000 square meters and consists of two floors. Big store but small store. In comparison, the department store in Foroset is 20,000 square metres, and the one in Slippenden is 31,000 square metres.

“Is it fair to say she looks a little young,” asks Jacqueline Montana-Pearson, who stopped by to watch opening day.

– She says: – I'm very happy in the big shop in Slipenden then, and it seems a bit small.

-But we'll probably come from time to time. It is practical to have a store in the city, says Haris Molik Steinmo, who also visits IKEA.

The new concept offered by IKEA is a virtual room where you can submit your request for a kitchen or bathroom and then see how the room will look in real size.

On opening day, only an illustrative image was entered, but Nettavisen has been told that it will soon be possible to design a room and see it on the walls before ordering.

One thing is missing

But there's one thing you can't buy here: IKEA sausages for five kroner. Earlier this year, Ikea reduced the price of sausages after seeing prices rise sharply over several years.

Karl Abe, IKEA's Norway manager, said he wanted the classic price for a sausage, which is five kroner.

– Why don't you have sausages for five here like in supermarkets?

– At IKEA in Karl Johan, we introduce the concept of Swedish bite. Here you can buy baguettes, soft serve ice cream and primarily coffee. Then we'll see what's next, IKEA's Norway manager, Swede Karl Abe, tells Netafsen.

– Why do you open a store in Carl Johan?

We have an ambition to get closer and become accessible to a larger number of people. “We will do it with IKEA in the center of Karl Johan,” he says.

– People can easily get here on foot, by bus, tram, subway or train to plan a kitchen or wardrobe, get inspiration from all the exhibitions, buy smaller products or have a snack and a cup of coffee, says Abe.

Earlier in May, Nettavisen got a sneak peek while construction was still in full swing.

IKEA has several plans in Oslo. As Nettavisen previously reported, Ikea wants to demolish the department store in Furuset to build a new, larger department store.