The sale of a Brighton shopping centre to furniture giant Ikea has been hailed as a vote of confidence in Brighton’s city centre.
The Swedish superstore’s parent company Ingka Stores announced this month it had completed the purchase of Churchill Square.
It now plans to turn the vacant anchor unit previously occupied by Debenhams into one of its new Ikea city stores.
Gavin Stewart, chief executive of Brighton Business Improvement District (BID) said: “We are very excited to welcome Ikea to Brighton City Centre.
“It’s a real vote of confidence in the future of retail for the city from a global company.
“Brighton city centre already offers a great deal to shoppers, and unlike many other retail centres across the UK, has fared well against the backdrop of the pandemic and business closures.
“In fact, the Brilliant Brighton shopping area (Brighton’s Business Improvement District) currently has only 6.7% of vacant premises against a national average of around 14%.
“Ikea’s arrival can only help boost that positive story and we are looking forward to them opening their second city store in the next two years.”
Ikea City stores, the first of which was opened in Hammersmith, are much smller than its superstores.
They have 6,000 products on display, half of which can be bought in the store and the rest available for available for delivery via zero-emission vehicles.
The site benefits from three car parks where Ingka Centres intends to extend the number of EV charging points, as well as encouraging the use of public transport to reflect the new IKEA city centre offer which encourages home delivery.
Ingka Centres intends to extend the number of EV charging points at the site’s three car parsk, as well as encouraging the use of public transport.
I fail to see how IKEA is going to transform Churchill Square as who would go shopping on Churchill Square for a kitchen?
But seeing how Churchill Square looks pretty dismal as well as Western Road being nothing other than one long takeaway street, it’s literally starting at rock bottom anyway!
You go to the store to see layouts and examples of the units etc
You then buy it on line and have it delivered
This isn’t like say their Croydon store where you can buy and take it away with you.
This seems pretty obvious to me.
Firstly you take on a failing shopping centre at a knockdown price, with declining footfall and with many empty or under-used premises, and then you add your own sparkle to regenerate the place.
IKEA will bring in their own market following of home makers and bargain seekers who keep the company going with the IKEA warehouse design approach to household essentials and nicknacks – stuff which you can see and buy on the day, and carry home on the bus, or in your bags.
The kitchen design service is then another money spinner, where you see what you like and then order the stuff and get it delivered to your home, alongside any other large items of furniture.
Or, for sure, there will be opportunity to pick up flat pack stock items on the day, via the back door, and with a private car, van or taxi.
The only worry is that the whole complex has other units, paying high rent, which they will need to do, to justify this Churchill Square takeover. Maybe the other retail outlets need to up their game too.
This is very good news for Brighton retail, in terms of the customer base brought in.
Let’s hope they deal well with the parking cost issue because, once stung unfairly, the car owners go elsewhere to spend their money – and the local fake-Green ideology has no answer to that fact.
I personally don’t shop anywhere in central Brighton at the moment, and that’s as a cyclist, a pedestrian, and as a regular user of public transport. It’s so much easier to shop online, or cheaper to drive elsewhere if i have to.
But I can get to Churchill square by bus. IKEA might get me there once more, when no other shops currently trading there would.
They got CS at a knockdown price yes, but it’s certainly not a failing shopping centre, it’s actually one of the better run ones, and the best leased ones, for its size. Size is one of the big issues though, it’s a quarter of the size Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield would want for one of their centres which rules them out, Realm etc do out of town, Frasers group have bought a few but they have just opened Flannels opposite and have a SD in town already and I’m not sure the Debenhams unit is the right size for a Frasers. That leaves keeping it ‘independent’ as part of a property group as it was, or Ingka. I suppose the council could have bought it had they not had the current financial pressures they do.
There was talk sometime ago of Churchill Square complex being completely redeveloped and expanded down towards the sea front so I recall.
The council would never have bought it.
The plan was for the council to sell the Brighton Centre to Aberdeen so they could expand CS and for the council to then use the funds from that to build the arena at black rock
Thank you ChrisC, I knew it was something like that.
Billy
I’m really concerned about the state of Churchill square outlets. There’s been a decline over the high rents and what have you that has caused many of them to close up. It’s not a case of upping their game but one of economics. Knowing what the public want to buy is all important.
You say this is good news for Brighton where the customer base will be brought in. For local people perhaps, for those further afield I can’t really see it happening, due partly to the difficulties with traffic and parking and lack of other options/stores in the area. I’m not likely to rush off to Churchill square because IKEA have a store but I will go to Croydon where there’s plenty of other stores and shops and I can do everything I want in one day where I can’t here in Brighton.
I hardly think IKEA will have any influence with car parking prices one of the main factors people go elsewhere as you’ve already highlighted. I haven’t been anywhere near Churchill Square for some time now, much cheaper and more pleasant going to Eastbourne or Worthing where you are welcome.
Helen. What is this ‘welcoming’ you talk of? Do you work for the Croydon tourism board?
What exactly can you do adjacent to the Croydon IKEA? It’s way out from the town centre, and it’s a fair old drive from Sussex in the first place, and traffic there is worse than Brighton. Croydon town centre (where you’ll have to pay to park anyway) itself is very uninviting with huge numbers of vacant units.
It has to be a lot better than having massive empty retail spaces in the town centre. It’s not like the empty spaces can be changed to residential or even mixed then its good
Great to see IKEA in Brighton but the car park prices are so expensive. You cannot always use public transport. If you are purchasing smaller items most people will do this online cheaper than the car park fees. Be a good idea for the store to offer a reduction to parking if you buy from the store
I heard that Ikea are going to be taking over some of the car park in Churchill Square and they usually don’t charge for parking. But whether this is true or not I don’t know.
Brighton’s Mall has disintegrated into a few nondescript shops as well as Western Road which is now a travesty . An unwelcoming road to go along. Gone has the sparkle of days gone by in this town.
I have lived here all my life from my birth and my how has it changed. History pulled down for ugly offices and flats . The Mall thinking it could take over all the shops. that is why Western road has finished. Brighton is not the seaside town to attract any more , just a few pubs that can be fun before they are gone too. They called it futuristic planning, Beautiful old houses from Brighton past gone for carparks. So carparks for what. What do you see when you park up, nothing. Beauty has gone for modern ideals.
It’s definitely benefited from the Western Road ‘improvements’…..not
The Lanes area is now mostly occupied by jewellery shops, as well as a lot of empty shops. And since the square in the centre was completely ruined by a screen that cuts off most of its area, there is very little of any interest for which to bother to go there any more. East Street, which was once considered to be very smart and. sophisticated, is now as dreary as the rest of Brighton & Hove. IKEA at Churchill Square is not going to make much of a change to the city. Does anyone remember Habitat?