The IKEA in Sheffield thread

[garrence 10]

Originally posted by Bedhead

wanna job?!

Do I get to banish wooly thinking and deal with countries that harbour wooly thinkers? Oh, and play with little models.

[Dunai 10]

If they build an Ikea in Sheffield, I would go to there. At the same time I might go to Walmart, Asda, Brantano, Matalan, Meadowhall etc. etc. in Sheffield whereas when I go to Ikea Leeds I go to Curry's, Comet etc. all on the same trading estate. I might even pop in to Leeds city centre to do a bit of shopping. Also other people would most probably do the same.

So Sheffield loses out... So in my opinion Sheffield would gain by having an Ikea.

 

Another thing: an Ikea (or a similar store) would be perfect for Sheffield's esteem. Perhaps more visitors will come to the city.

[Tony 10]

There would be an inevitable leakage of trade from the city centre, but I'm not convinced that it would be anywhere near as much as the Council pretend.

 

No, I believe that they are protecting the NRQ (New Retail Quarter) rather obsessively because they are determined that it will succeed. The alternative is for Sheffield Council and Sheffield One to look incredibly stupid and ineffectual.

 

Whether the NRQ happens is still in the balance - the council have missed all their targets so far, and only have 1 major anchor tenant - John Lewis - who are already here and are effectively getting a free brand new store (they would be silly not to say yes). NRQ is a commercial project, and as such has to make money - it doesn't get lottery cash like the other Heart of the City projects.

 

So you see, IKEA isn't coming to Sheffield for purely political and personal career reasons.

[Bedhead 10]

all good but it's Rotherham MB Council's patch - not sheffields

[Tony 10]

Did I say differently?

[Bedhead 10]

'they are protecting the NRQ' i'm assuming you mean sheffield city council? and an ikea not being of regional significance (in planning terms) i would doubt that sheffield c council have any teeth in any objection it raised on rotherhams patch - if rotherham feel that an ikea would suit its objectives they'd approve it - sheffield C C are able to voice their objection to Waverly as a whole as that is of regional significance

 

god i sound boring!

 

http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/graphics/Environment/planning

[Geoff 10]

Originally posted by Tony

So you see, IKEA isn't coming to Sheffield for purely political and personal career reasons.

At last, someone as cynical as me...

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but when I asked an employee of Ikea Nottingham she informed me that Ikea themselves had decided not to open in Sheffield. She explained that Ikea's success was its lack of stores. People will always buy something (or even quite a lot) in order to make the long trip seem worthwhile.

 

With stores in Notts and Leeds (both 1 hour from here) the company didn't see much benefit of opening one in Sheffield.

 

I will contact Ikea's press office to double check this.

 

PS. Merged this thread with last month's Ikea thread. Please use search before posting!

[Tony 10]

At last, someone as cynical as me... !

 

It only takes a short while of trying to work with the system in Sheffield.

 

Originally posted by Geoff

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but when I asked an employee of Ikea Nottingham she informed me that Ikea themselves had decided not to open in Sheffield. She explained that Ikea's success was its lack of stores. People will always buy something (or even quite a lot) in order to make the long trip seem worthwhile.

 

With stores in Notts and Leeds (both 1 hour from here) the company didn't see much benefit of opening one in Sheffield.

 

That's interesting. I had wondered, because there is nothing better than having customers feeling obliged after having made all that effort. It’s a clever marketing strategy for a homewares store – limit access, increase desire.

[fhain29 10]

This puzzles me. A woman who works in the shop in Nottingham and maybe isn't management isn't going to know about expansion plans. Ikea state on their website that they are planning a Sheffield store:

http://www.ikea.co.uk/ms/en_GB/customer_service/faq/faq.html#0000

 

Leeds and Nottingham being an hour away is of no consequence, it's how many people are in the area which counts. Therefore a second Manchester shop (Stockport). I live in Germany, and have four IKEAs within a twenty minute drive.

[Geoff 10]

This puzzles me. A woman who works in the shop in Nottingham and maybe isn't management isn't going to know about expansion plans.

 

What makes you so sure that someone working for Ikea wouldn't know about the plans of her own company?! Besides, she was actually right to a certain extent. I've had a reply from Ikea's press office which says: "We are looking at potential sites throughout the UK but at present there are no plans to open a store in sheffield."

 

When I asked the reason why Sheffield was not selected they said they would reply on Monday as it was 5.30 and their Property Manager wasn't available.

 

I will keep you informed

[Geoff 10]

Ok, here's the official response:

 

I have spoken with our property manager and all we are prepared to say about Sheffield at this time is:

 

IKEA are investigating other sites in closer proximity to Sheffield town centre and we are in on going discussions with the local council.

 

Running a web site with over 3,000 Sheffielders (plus others of course) has it benefits from time to time

[RPG 10]

ooooh, "Sheffield Town Centre"