Stores: Ikea and Customers

stores: The store highlights a different approach for Ikea, which has relied mostly on sprawling 300,000 square-foot stores where customers traverse a labyrinth of aisles full of sofas, cabinetry, appliances an knick-knacks, and can stop to refuel in the food court, according to CNN. Ikea is overhauling its strategy in order to adapt to the growth of online shopping for affordable housewares and furniture. The company announced on Monday that it will open up a 17,530 square-foot showroom on Manhattan's Upper East Side next spring. Competition from players Amazon AMZN Wayfair W Overstock OSTK has stiffened, while places like the Container Store TCS and Williams-Sonoma WSM have squeezed Ikea on smaller home decorations. Ingka Group, the Swedish holding company that owns and operates most of Ikea's stores, said last month that it would lay off about 7,500 employees -- 5% of its global workforce -- and build 30 smaller stores in major cities around the world in the next few years. Target TGT has also made a play for kitchen and bathroom purchases online. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.