Dublin IKEA won't open until late 2009

robo

Dublin IKEA won't open until late 2009

SHOPPERS will have to wait another year before home superstore IKEA finally opens its doors in Dublin.

Despite the fact that the building looks like it is finished, opening will come no sooner than the end of 2009.

One of the delays is a condition set by An Bord Pleanala, that improvements must be made to the Ballymun Interchange of the M50 first.

Safety

The planning authority said the planning stipulation is to avoid serious traffic congestion and is in the interest, the convenience and the safety of road users.

However, construction sources have told the Herald that the construction programme at the Ballymount interchange is "progressing quite well, and the interchange could be completed by 2009".

But even if this does happen, consumers may still have to wait a year before it opens its doors.

A spokesperson for IKEA told the Herald: "IKEA are in continued talks with the NRA ... for opening in 2009."

"The store hasn't been finished yet. It may look finished but it's only a shell."

"It is not ready to trade. There's quite a comprehensive fit-out when it comes to the internal make-up of the store."

A spokesperson for the NRA is adamant that it is sticking by its deadline of 2010 for the completion of the interchange.

"That section of the M50 is not going to be completed until the end of 2010."

It is understood that if the NRA tried to bring forward the date of completion with the contractor; it would have a serious cost implication that would be in the millions.

When asked by the Herald if they are in talks with IKEA, he replied "no comment".

Meanwhile, Cllr Ray Corcoran says: "We all want it open for the employment. There's going to be 500 jobs and 250 for the Ballymun area when it comes.

"Unemployment has soared in recent times so I want it opened as soon as possible."

Will it ever open :rolleyes:

The Real B-man

With the euro the way it is probably better off heading up to the belfast one anyway!

robo

The Real B-man wrote: »

With the euro the way it is probably better off heading up to the belfast one anyway!

I was thinking that myself...I will definitely be comparing prices when they do come before buying.

Besides I think that they should have built the store some where central rather than Dublin, like Athlone or somewhere that is not so far for other counties to travel to. In fairness the one in Dublin is only 2 hours away from the one in Belfast, where as people in Kerry, Cork etc have a long journey up to Dublin.

Polar101

robo wrote: »

Besides I think that they should have built the store some where central rather than Dublin, like Athlone or somewhere that is not so far for other counties to travel to.

From IKEA's point of view it probably makes a lot more sense to open their first store in the country in Dublin, rather than Westmeath.

SantryRed

They have a sign the length of the building telling people to go to Belfast.:pac:

Bluetonic

robo wrote: »

Besides I think that they should have built the store some where central rather than Dublin, like Athlone or somewhere that is not so far for other counties to travel to. In fairness the one in Dublin is only 2 hours away from the one in Belfast, where as people in Kerry, Cork etc have a long journey up to Dublin.

The majority of the countries population live in Dublin county and city, then you have the immediate surrounds to consider.

Placing it anywhere else would be idiotic.

lightening

robo wrote: »

Besides I think that they should have built the store some where central rather than Dublin, like Athlone

Agreed! The new motorway to Athlone is amazing anyway for us Dubs! The outskirts of Athlone would probably handle the traffic a bit better than the poor M50!

Dub13

Is the one in Dublin going to be bigger/smaller than the one in Belfast..?

_blank_

Dub13 wrote: »

Is the one in Dublin going to be bigger/smaller than the one in Belfast..?

It looks huge.

I'd hate to live in Poppintree, facing the building.

Huge

IKEA

sign shining in on you every day and night.

Dub13

I have drove by the front of it a few times and it does not look that big.

robo

From what I remember, they said that the one in Belfast was the size of 5 football pitches! I am not sure if the one in Dublin will be that big, but didn't the government have to change the law so that they could build such a big store.

jdivision

robo wrote: »

Besides I think that they should have built the store some where central rather than Dublin, like Athlone or somewhere that is not so far for other counties to travel to. In fairness the one in Dublin is only 2 hours away from the one in Belfast, where as people in Kerry, Cork etc have a long journey up to Dublin.

The only place the store could be built was Ballymun. The number of restrictions placed on stores of that size meant that the Ballymun site was literally the only one in the country that qualified.

Malteaser!

Dub13 wrote: »

I have drove by the front of it a few times and it does not look that big.

I agree with ya!

When was it supposed to open??

whosedaddy?

Dub13 wrote: »

Is the one in Dublin going to be bigger/smaller than the one in Belfast..?

about same size (shop floor). Belfast is said to to be around 29,000 sqm and Dublin 30,500 sqm. Dublin will have 2 floors (like Belfast me thinks to remember)

Poxyshamrock

Anyone got pics?

BraziliaNZ

god how horrible will it be when this behemoth opens. I hope they're building a new 12 lane motorway, an underground train system etc to accomodate the 100s of thousands of people who will be going here every day? It's going to be HELL ON EARTH.

Gaspode

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

god how horrible will it be when this behemoth opens. I hope they're building a new 12 lane motorway, an underground train system etc to accomodate the 100s of thousands of people who will be going here every day? It's going to be HELL ON EARTH.

Seriously folks, get a grip.

I've been to the one in belfast a few times, and also to one in Holland (dont ask), and in neither was there any more traffic going in the than into a small to medium sized shopping centre. Blanchardstown SC would easily have 5-10 times more traffic in and out of it on a normal day than either of the ikeas I've visited.

The one in belfast is accessed by a small road off a dual carriageway, and they cope very well. I dont see why Dublin would need several lanes of motorway to service its ikea, that's a ludicrous suggestion!

Dont believe the hype you're hearing, they're just not that big a store.
Big, with lots in them sure, but just not that big.

RaverRo808

Not to be pessimistic,but I think its going to be a diaster,that whole development around there is a complete joke,the nearby retail park Gullivers which has a Home Base,Currys,Pet World,Golf shop,Hickeys etc,is an absolute castrophe,its doing no business,whenever I go up there,its a ghost town,completely dead,even during the busy christmas season its still queit,can see afew closures in the next few years with the economy way it is,Ikea couldnt be arriving at a worse time,and with the other developments around during no business,and aswell as that,why do people care so much about Ikea opening,theres millions of stores and outlets where you can buy a few chairs and a cabinet,big whoop

Daz R1

I agree with "Deswalsh" ,I think its going to be a big white elephant ,was up there recently in Belfast and I remember the hype around the opening of the Belfast one ,so mush so that hardly anyone -relative to what they were expecting- turned up ,and Id say if the Ballymun one opened now it would have a bigger infrastructure in place than the Belfast one ! And is it just the pessimist in me who thinks that IKEA will be jumping on the "lets hike the price up in ROI" band wagon ,It'll prob be better to still go up north to get any item cheaper

johnnyrotten

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Anyone got pics?

http://photos5.pix.ie/77/7C/777CAD2FCF874849A2491F4F8EBE9467-500.jpg

The only one I could find on the net!

lightening

Wow... lots of panicking going on! I am sure it will be fine. I was in the one in Belfast on Saturday. Fantastic furniture, excellently designed at an amazing price. Very well organised, no traffic problems (hundreds of Southern plates in the carpark). Spent feck all, arrived home with a cabinet of certain dimensions I just couldn't get anywhere else along with a car full of household accessories.

whosedaddy?

its not us that are making the hype... its Bord Pleanála and NRA that have all those "concerns" re traffic.... its not that IKEA is causing the upset to the fragile traffic equilibrium - any mid size change in traffic pattern will do that.

The will be a rush at the beginning.. but it will die down pretty quickly me thinks. most of us had the "IKEA experience" by now, and like lightening said, its only a store that sells tables and chairs...

and what better time to open IKEA then in mid recession. nobody has any money, so it should be a quiet opening...

But mind you, i would expect some more businesses relocating in the vacinity of IKEA. to sell the complementing bits (higher quality) items. That has happened with almost all IKEA stores on the continent I know.

Bluetonic

whosedaddy? wrote: »

most of us had the "IKEA experience" by now, and like lightening said, its only a store that sells tables and chairs...

You can be sure the majority of the ROI population have never been next nor near an IKEA.

biko

robo wrote: »

Besides I think that they should have built the store some where central rather than Dublin, like Athlone or somewhere that is not so far for other counties to travel to. In fairness the one in Dublin is only 2 hours away from the one in Belfast, where as people in Kerry, Cork etc have a long journey up to Dublin.

+1000. The people from Dublin would still go either to Athlone or Belfast and other counties didn't have to pass tolls and other crap to get some furniture.

lightening

Bluetonic wrote: »

You can be sure the majority of the ROI population have never been next nor near an IKEA.

Eight of us here in work, seven have been. Most people I know have been to Ikea, some in Scotland before the one in Belfast was built.

Bluetonic

lightening wrote: »

Eight of us here in work, seven have been. Most people I know have been to Ikea, some in Scotland before the one in Belfast was built.

Three of us here, none have been in IKEA. Thats 100% of the people surveyed

Really a minority of ROI people have shopped in IKEA.

whosedaddy?

Bluetonic wrote: »

Three of us here, none have been in IKEA. Thats 100% of the people surveyed

Really a minority of ROI people have shopped in IKEA.

but the majority of non-irish living in ROI probably have... before they moved here..

SO the next question to those that have never been near IKEA, would they rush to go shopping there if it was in Dublin... or just can't wait to have a look immediately after it opened.

that's what the planners want us to believe... hence all this waffle about M50 upgrade, restricted opening hours, etc.

lightening

Bluetonic wrote: »

Three of us here, none have been in IKEA. Thats 100% of the people surveyed

Really a minority of ROI people have shopped in IKEA.

Fair enough, studio full of designers and finished artists here. Maybe the majority of people into good design and well engineered furniture and household products have been!! Well worth it.

I wouldn't panic though, its just a furniture shop, albeit, a furniture shop that sells stuff you simply can't get anywhere else. Whosedaddy, I won't be rushing in, but I will go there when I need something in particular.

lightening

Actually, I don't meant that in a "we are funky cool wanky designers that know better" way... just the people I know would be inclined to go there....

DBCyc

whosedaddy? wrote: »

that's what the planners want us to believe... hence all this waffle about M50 upgrade, restricted opening hours, etc.

I believe that the planners are right to restrict development on to a key road around Dublin which is already congested. Especially to somewhere such as IKEA where everyone will drive to/from as opposed to walking/cycling/public transport (bit difficult with a load of flat-packed furniture )

In planning, I presume IKEA demonstrated that the development can work on the upgraded M50 at certain hours where overall traffic on the road network is reduced e.g. late in the evening. I doubt that they could have argued that it would work before the M50 was upgraded!

hedgeh0g

+ 500 jobs

Re the Indo Today It will open in Summer but is ready to open now.
Its waiting on the NRA to allow it to open when our over priced roads are finished in the area

The head of operations for IKEA ..... "It is unprecedented to have a store that is ready to open standing idle" Only in Ireland

http://www.ikeafans.com/

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/

sdanseo

Have to side with the NRA and An Bórd Pleanála here, though I'd like to see it open myself. They made it extremely clear that the store would not be permitted to open until infrastructure was in place. They haven't revised their estimate iirc either.

IKEA chose to build it and let it lie idle and tbh I think they just chanced their arm that the government would say "ah feck it, sure it's built, let them open it up". No point in them or anyone else blaming the powers that be this time.

juvenal

I'm not an expert on the planning conditions, but I do recall that they were absolutely crystal clear about what infrastructure needed to be in place before the store opened.

No doubt this will just increase the hype in the build-up to the "grand opening". Personally I wish they'd created these jobs and opened stores a decade ago in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway, and we could over-indulge in Ikea products and all our houses would look like a catalogue page.*:D

In delaying the expansion into Ireland, first with the Belfast store, and now with the Dublin one, Ikea has just created more hype and novelty around their product. Nothing grips a hold on the Irish consumer like a product that cannot be bought here!

See Ikea / Abercrombie & Fitch / iPhone etc.

*my coffee table is from Ikea:P

Wishbone Ash

Threads merged.

Jet Black

Was not looking forward to it opening as I live just down the road and traffic would be horrible, but its going to create 500+ jobs so the sooner the better IMO.

vanessas

Believe me, I have no shares in Ikea !
I just wanted to say to I've been living in Ireland since 3 years now and I find the furniture very expensive with a very low choice (all the harvey normans and co propose the same type of stuff). I used to buy all my furnitures in Ikea when I was in my country and found the quality very good with such a wide range of choice especially for the kitchen which are very competitive.

With the recession time, people might want to save money and buy funky furniture for change. It might be not the taste of everyone but I'm sure that as soon as the people will have tested it they will be ready to drive from Cork or other parts, still less far than going to Belfast !
And again it is 500 jobs opportunity so the sooner, the better.

And don't worry to built the furniture, if I've been able to do it with my two left hands, everybody can do it (even if the couple fight around the Ikea furniture is very famous in my country. The man does not want to admit that he has done something wrong while the wife try to ask him if he needs help in such a nice way that is "male" reputation is safe! - not very good english, sorry:o)

Bluetonic

http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0123/ikea.html

IKEA names date for Dublin opening
Friday, 23 January 2009 07:31

IKEA has told RTE News that it will open its 31,000 square metre store in Ballymun in north Dublin on Monday July 27.

The company will employ 500 people in its store which specialises in flat pack furniture. It will begin recruiting for 395 floor staff positions in the middle of March. The company has already recruited 55 managers and is about to start a recruitment drive for supervisors.

An Bord Pleanála approved the store in 2007 despite concerns about its impact on the wider retail environment. It is estimated the some 2.3 million visits were made to IKEA in Belfast last year with large numbers travelling from the south.

Mingey

Why are they only opening 1 in the Republic?

cuckoo

Mingey wrote: »

Why are they only opening 1 in the Republic?

I think there's planning restrictions on how big shops can be here, so they would have difficulty getting permission to build big enough stores.

Hope the gardai are ready for the traffic nightmare and crowd chaos on July 27th - i'll be waiting until September at the earliest to go anywhere near the place. I've been in busy Ikeas in other countries, and when it gets crowded it seems to bring out the worst in people, pushing into lines and shouting at each other over tea towels.

aquascrotum

Heard somethin on the radio this morning that the management of the Dublin store confirmed that pricing would be set in May 09, but there was no guarantee they'd be able to have parity with the Belfast store...

My personal opinion, having been cursed by the Belfast store on several occasions, is that its worth going to for decking out a student house with cheap as chip delph etc and a bookcase, or a back bedroom. Nicknacks like bins, photo frames, some lamps etc are also good. The more expensive and larger stuff they sell imo isn't that cheap compared to similar goods elsewhere (thinking kitches especially).

robo

Mingey wrote: »

Why are they only opening 1 in the Republic?

I don't think there is a need for more than 1 in the Republic. But we will have 2 on the island. And I think that the one in Dublin should have been built in the centre of the country rather than Dublin - 2 hours from Belfast, where as if it was more central, it would not be as far for people from the southern most areas of the country to visit. Oh and I do live in Dublin.

tribulus

On a relatd noted, IKEA are advertising on the Fás website (possible elsewhere too) for manager/supervisor positions. Interviews start in February.

hedgeh0g

robo wrote: »

I don't think there is a need for more than 1 in the Republic. But we will have 2 on the island. And I think that the one in Dublin should have been built in the centre of the country rather than Dublin - 2 hours from Belfast, where as if it was more central, it would not be as far for people from the southern most areas of the country to visit. Oh and I do live in Dublin.

Its a pain going to Belfast. Roll on the Dublin store. Dublin is the best place for it IMO. Theres 1.5 million people in Dublin to start with.