Business
IKEA buys former Topshop flagship store in central London for $520 million
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on October 26, 2021
2 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on October 26, 2021
2 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
IKEA acquires Topshop's Oxford Street store for $520M, transforming it into its largest inner-city store, set to open in 2023.
By Anna Ringstrom
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture brand, has agreed to buy the iconic former flagship store of British fashion chain Topshop in central London from the administrators of bankrupt owner Arcadia Group, part of its push to open inner-city outlets.
Krister Mattsson, head of the investment arm of Ingka Group which owns most IKEA stores, told Reuters that three floors of the seven-storey building on Oxford Street, which it is buying for £378 million ($520 million), would be turned into an IKEA store due to open in the summer or autumn of 2023.
“This is a very good fit into our strategy. This is a meeting place – it’s one of the best spots for visitation in Europe, with amazing numbers of people passing by every week,” Mattsson, managing director of Ingka Investment, said in an interview.
IKEA has tweaked its strategy in recent years towards adding inner-city store formats besides its giant out-of-town warehouse stores to reflect changing shopping behaviour.
It opened its first inner-city full-range store in Paris in 2019. Its first centrally located store in London is due to open in the coming months, in the borough of Hammersmith.
“The investment supports the transformation of Ingka Group’s retail business, bringing IKEA closer to customers,” Ingka Investments said in a statement.
Mattsson said the Oxford Street store would be IKEA’s biggest inner-city format store to date.
Ingka Investments and IKEA’s shopping malls arm Ingka Centres are scouting for suitable centrally located properties across major cities in Europe and North America. Milano, Rome and Berlin are high on the agenda for Ingka Investments, Mattsson said.
He said there had been several bidders for the Oxford Street property. Overall in the segment where IKEA is looking to buy, interest from both institutional investor and other retailers was increasing alongside consumers’ return to stores, he said.
($1 = 0.7272 pounds)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Jan Harvey)
The article discusses IKEA's acquisition of the former Topshop flagship store in London for $520 million.
IKEA aims to expand its presence in city centers and the Oxford Street location is strategic for high foot traffic.
The new IKEA store is expected to open in the summer or autumn of 2023.
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