IKEA Is Getting Easier Than Ever to Shop—Here’s How

IKEA is a brand that needs no introduction. A staple for college kids, new homeowners and budget shoppers alike, the Swedish furniture warehouse has become synonymous with affordability and sleek Scandinavian design. (And also trying to decipher directions to build the dang items yourself, but hey, that’s part of the vibe!) Still, despite its selling points, have you ever felt like making a trip to IKEA can be kind of … a lot? Given its massive size, daunting signs and one-way racetrack through a maze-like landscape, I’ve personally gotten lost more times than I can count.

And it’s not just me. IKEA has been a regular punch line on the internet—from “scary stories” of being trapped in IKEA, to getting lost in IKEA, to experiencing legitimate panic attacks from the vastness of the store. If you haven’t been to an IKEA, here’s some insight: The biggest store to date, located in Burbank, California, sits on 22 acres, stands three stories tall, has 50 room settings and is a whopping 456,000 square feet in size. Most IKEA stores, however, average around 300,000 square feet—which, for perspective, is still about the size of five football fields.

Thankfully, IKEA is doing something different with its new stores that could change everything.

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What changes is IKEA making?

Currently, IKEA offers two ways to shop: the massive 300,000-square-foot warehouses we all know, and small corporate-driven stores that focus on customization and pickup, called Plan & Order Points. So either you commit half your day to exploring a sumo-size warehouse or take your chances ordering online and picking up. There’s no in-between … or there wasn’t until now.

Now, IKEA has added a third store type: small storefronts! The reason for the “small store” expansion, shared by Javier Quiñones, CEO and chief sustainability officer of IKEA U.S., is simple: “to be where the people are, whenever and however they want to experience IKEA.” And Selwyn Crittendon, IKEA’s business development manager, recently told Modern Retail: “The retail environment is changing. [The smaller stores are] really about being more accessible to many people in areas where we can’t put a larger footprint store.”

Where will these smaller locations be opening?

Well, here’s some good news for you: The first one started welcoming customers a little before the new year, on Dec. 2, in Arcadia, California. It spans just 11,000 square feet. Eight out of the nine small-front stores planned for 2025 are already open!

Here are the rest:

• Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania
• Hunt Valley, Maryland
• Beaverton, Oregon
• Scottsdale, Arizona
• Thousand Oaks, California
• Ontario, California
• Colma, California
• San Marcos, Texas
• Syracuse, New York (Fall 2025)

Additional small stores may soon open in various spots in Texas, including Dallas and Rio Grande Valley.

Will there still be meatballs?

Unfortunately, it seems that the bite-sized stores won’t all feature IKEA’s famous food-court goodies, including their hot dogs and Swedish meatballs. Though the new stores are meant to personalize client experiences, this concept may be a swing and a miss for some IKEA fans. In response to the San Marcos IKEA opening on July 16, the first thing one Reddit user says is, “I heard it doesn’t have meatballs.”

Word to the wise: If you want meatballs, stick to shopping at the flagship locations.

Will IKEA be making any similar changes to its larger existing stores?

Yes! In fact, IKEA has plans to reorganize the confusing labyrinth that is its warehouse.

According to Ingka Group, the umbrella company of IKEA Retail, IKEA has plans to build a 2-kilometer-long store, which is just over one mile. Why? Ingka’s retail manager shared: “We have noticed that more and more visitors of our stores resort to GPS on their phones to find their way around. This was, of course, a concern for us, as they spent more time looking at their phones than at our products. So, our solution is to build a store that is impossible to get lost in.”

Makes a whole lot of sense to us!

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Sources:

• Visit Burbank: “Largest IKEA in North America”
• IKEA: “IKEA U.S. Opens First Small-Format Store in Los Angeles Market”
• Modern Retail: “Inside Ikea’s small-format store strategy: ‘The retail environment is changing’”
• IKEA: “IKEA U.S. announces eight new-format stores opening in 2025 and reflects on milestones across the business in FY24”
• Reddit: “1st ever mini IKEA now open in San Marcos!”
• Ingka: “IKEA to build two-kilometre-long store that is “impossible to get lost in”