IKEA opens first Irish distribution centre
IKEA UK & Ireland has opened its first ever logistics facility in Ireland.
Marking a significant milestone in the furniture giant’s expansion in the country, the opening follows the retailer’s investments in six plan and order points there, as well as upgrades to its Ballymun store, and a collaboration with Tesco Ireland on affordable collection service.
The state-of-the-art facility in Rathcoole, Co. Dublin employs over 200 people and spans 27,000 square metres. The opening means that IKEA’s business in Ireland will have one of the shortest delivery times in Europe at three days. Deliveries to Irish customers previously required dispatch from the UK.
IKEA expects the distribution centre to make more than 300,000 deliveries in the first year of operation, with that figure almost doubling to nearly 600,000 within five years. The retailer is aiming to eventually deliver up to three million items a year from the centre.
Jakob Bertilsson, country customer fulfilment manager, IKEA Ireland and UK, said: “The opening of Ireland’s first IKEA distribution centre will greatly benefit our customers through faster and more reliable deliveries. It marks a key step in our ambitious expansion plans across Ireland.
“We remain committed to – and are continually investing in – the future of our physical store in Dublin, but we want people to enjoy the IKEA experience no matter where they choose to engage with us, whether through our full-size store, plan and order points, or online.
“This new distribution centre will greatly enable this, by increasing availability of our products and reducing lead times.”
The news comes just a year after IKEA opened a 452,000 square foot customer distribution centre in Dartford in Kent. This has created 300 jobs and is capable of delivering almost one million orders annually across London and the south east of England.
