From the entrance you can see a semi-detached kitchenette with glasses, plates and pots on it, with two white bar stools in front of it. Immediately next to it is a small living room interior: two armchairs, a small table and a floor lamp in front of a partially open wall unit. On the right side of the room, different kitchen models are shown in an area of two to four meters each, and different wardrobes are shown on the left. All sorts of vases, boxes and other everyday items are lying around. Price tags hang on the furniture.
“That’s the Ikea feeling – and that’s what we wanted to convey,” said Michael Vortkamp, Metro Area Manager Munich, as the company calls it, on Monday in the “Riem Arcaden”. The Swedish furniture store is opening one of two new planning offices there this week, for the first time directly in the Munich city area. It has been almost 50 years since Ikea opened its first branch in Germany in Eching in the north of Munich. The furniture store in Brunnthal in the south of the city was also added to the region 20 years ago.
Now the group wants to “close a gap” with small branches in Riem and in the “Pasing Arcaden”, as Ikea Germany boss Walter Kadnar says, between online orders and purchases in the large furniture stores in the Munich area. There are many people who do a lot of things online when buying furniture, but still value direct contact if they “want to know something in detail.”
Vortkamp sees a major advantage in planning offices: “The most important thing is centrality.” Residents of the Glockenbachviertel or Schwabing may understand something different by this. But at least: In contrast to the previous ones, the new locations can be reached relatively quickly and easily using public transport.
The planning offices differ significantly from the previous Ikea locations in terms of both their size and their purpose. Instead of 30,000, they are only about 300 square meters in size. Customers can’t stroll through here, try out sofas and beds, take furniture, dishes or decorative items with them and then eat Köttbullar at the end. Instead, they receive targeted assistance from the planning offices with the design of kitchens or cupboard systems. Vortkamp emphasizes that good planning is particularly important in Munich, with its significantly smaller apartments compared to the national average.
In the new Riem planning office: Michael Vortkamp (left) and Walter Kadnar from Ikea.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
Around 30 specially trained Ikea employees will advise customers on partial or overall planning, depending on their wishes; and in 13 different languages, in addition to various European languages, for example Arabic and Indian. In addition to model kitchens and cabinets, you also have access to samples of available fronts, worktops and faucets. Consultation appointments should be arranged in advance online or in store.
You can’t take anything with you straight away from the planning offices. But the entire Ikea range can be ordered from here – and will be delivered quickly if available in nearby furniture stores, promises Germany boss Kadnar. In this context, Vortkamp also points to a new offer for Munich customers: four pick-up stations in the city. In Giesing, at the Donnersbergerbrücke, the Alten Heide and in Allach-Untermenzing, Ikea customers have recently been able to pick up their orders around the clock – for an additional charge of 20 euros.
Ikea gained initial experience with planning offices in Berlin and Ravensburg, where there are already four and one respectively. The planning office in Riem opens for the first time this Wednesday, the one in Pasing on Friday.