Ikea is abandoning plans to develop a 320,000 sq ft megastore close to Brighton and will instead sell the land.
The U-turn comes just over five years after the Swedish retailer selected the 18.8-acre site, which forms part of a major redevelopment led by Brighton and Hove Albion FC.
The £170m regeneration on a former landfill site off the A27 in Lancing was granted full planning permission in 2020 after a lengthy process in the face of local opposition.
Work had barely got underway when it had to be halted last year because of the pandemic. However, work on the residential element of 600 homes, led by CALA Homes, is now progressing. The project includes a new country park, roundabout, a community hub, and a primary school.
However, today Ikea said it would no longer be progressing with its plans at the New Monks Farm site.
In a statement, the retailer said that the “retail market has evolved considerably and customer shopping habits are changing fast – not only because of increasing urbanisation and the development of new technologies, but owing to the fact that more and more people are shopping online, a trend that has accelerated over the last 12 months as a result of the pandemic”.
Richard Rands, market expansion manager at Ikea UK & Ireland, said: “This has not been an easy decision to make. Today, we are operating in an incredibly fast-changing retail environment and customer shopping habits aren’t as they once were. Although we know that there is great potential in Sussex, we no longer believe that an Ikea store on the outskirts of Lancing is the optimum way to reach customers in the region. We understand this news may disappoint some but we will continue to serve customers in Lancing and the wider area in the best possible way, through both our online offer and home delivery service, as well as our remote selling and planning facilities.”
The flatpack furniture chain’s UK business, which has 21 stores, recorded a £32.7m overall loss in the year to August 2020 compared with a £2.5m loss in 2019.
Ikea said it remains committed to growth in the UK through its omnichannel strategy. The statement said it would continue to “put all its energy into its existing stores, investing in its online offer and exploring new formats”.
The land in Lancing will be advertised for sale as part of an open bidding process.
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