Ikea is set to move into the former Topshop flagship store in London’s Oxford Street this autumn after paying £378 million.
The furniture chain’s owner Ingka Investments has bought Topshop’s former flagship store on Oxford Street, creating a new central London home for Ikea.
The deal to buy the long leasehold on the building, which includes the now vacant 100,000sq ft Topshop outlet as well as a Nike Town store and a shop used by footwear brand Vans, will complete in January after a conditional purchase contract was signed.
READ MORE: Ikea plans to take over Topshop’s London flagship: A Swede deal?
It completes the sell-off of the assets of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group empire, which collapsed into administration in November last year.
Ikea said it planned to open a store in the building in autumn 2023, focusing on home-furnishing accessories.
The full range of furniture will be available to buy for home delivery.
Funds from the deal will pay off a £312 million mortgage taken out on the building in 2019 with the hedge fund Apollo Global Management.
Around £40 million more is expected to go to Arcadia’s pension fund which had a deficit of about £300 million at the time of administration.
“Even though online shopping continues to accelerate at a rapid pace, our physical stores (large and small), will always be an essential part of the Ikea experience – as places for inspiration and expertise, community and engagement,” head of Ikea UK and Ireland, Peter Jelkeby said.
“Bringing Ikea to the heart of Oxford Street – one of the most innovative, dynamic and exciting retail destinations in the world – is a direct response to these societal shifts and an exciting step forward in our journey to becoming a more accessible.”
Ingka Investments managing director, Krister Mattsson said the acquisition of the store was an “opportunity to create a more accessible, affordable and sustainable Ikea for our customers”.
“This property offers great potential for retail space, and we firmly believe in the long-term value of the real estate market in London,” he said.
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