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IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site

It's not what you think, don't worry.

Emily Sergeant - 5th June 2025

It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.

The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.

The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.

IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.

IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)

Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.

Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.

IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.

Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.

The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)

In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.

“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.

“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”

Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester.

Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.

Featured Image – Jon Super (via IKEA)