IKEA city store set to open in Brighton's main shopping centre

A new IKEA city store is set to open at Churchill Square on the former Debenhams site after Ingka Centres announced the freehold acquisition of Brighton's main shopping centre.

Ingka Centres is part of the Ingka Group, which includes IKEA Retail and Ingka Investments.

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It said it aims to develop Churchill Square’s "strong retail fundamentals" and invest in its infrastructure to support Brighton and Hove City Council’s drive to establish a thriving local circular economy.

Churchill Square attracts more than 11 million visitors a year and retail tenants include Inditex, Apple, Next, H&M, and Urban Outfitters. Food outlets include McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme and Ed’s Easy Diner.
Ingka Centres has also bought Chartwell Court, a residential tower block on the site, two attached car parks and a leasehold on a third car park.

"We are excited to strengthen our portfolio with a well-established shopping destination in the heart of the vibrant and growing city of Brighton and Hove. It fits perfectly into our global expansion strategy, allowing us to transform a traditional retail space to a meeting place that is much more than just a place to shop," said Cindy Andersen, Ingka Centres’ managing director.

"We’ve proven in Hammersmith that traditional shopping centres have a strong future when they are adapted and constantly evolving to match the real needs of local communities," she added.

The company said future investments would include energy efficiency improvements to bring the centre up to BREEAM excellent standards while more initiatives are planned to reflect Ingka Centres global sustainability commitment.

Peter Jelkeby, country retail manager and chief sustainability officer at IKEA UK & Ireland said: "As one of the most innovative and exciting markets in the world for retail and e-commerce, we will step up our omnichannel investments, both in Brighton and the rest of the country, with a simple goal: to become more customer centric, so that people can shop with us for a better, more sustainable life at home, whenever, wherever and however they choose."

Ingka Centres has around 50 years' experience in shopping centres and today works with over 3,000 brands across its portfolio of 33 shopping centres in 13 markets.

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