PRICES IN the new Ikea store in Dublin, which opens next Monday, will be about the same as in its Belfast store, according to the company. By Christmas, prices in the Ballymun store will be lower than in the North as sterling strengthens against the euro, the Dublin store manager Garry Deakin predicted yesterday.
Mr Deakin rejected predictions of traffic chaos when the giant new furnishing outlet opens, saying an elaborate traffic management plan was in place to minimise disruption caused by the store, which lies just off the M50.
More than 1,000 shoppers an hour are expected at the store next Monday but Mr Deakin said a combination of new roads, late morning openings during the week and a soft launch should mean the traffic congestion predicted will not materialise.
Ikea will seek to have a planning condition requiring it to charge customers for parking in the afternoons dropped, he also signalled.
Under the condition, one of 13 traffic-related restrictions imposed on the giant store when planning permission was granted, customers will be charged a flat fee, set at €3, for parking between 4pm and 8pm. The measure is designed to discourage motorists from travelling to the store during the evening rush-hour period.
The Ballymun store, the 301st opened by the world’s largest furniture retailer, employs 500 people. At 31,500 square metres, it is the largest store in the Republic, having benefited from a change in planning regulations introduced to entice the Swedish-owned multinational to the country.
Facilities include more than 1,800 car parking spaces, a 550- seater restaurant, a Swedish food hall and a creche.
Mr Deakin said prices in the Dublin store were tailored to the local market. The company had surveyed the prices of similar products in competitors’ stores and was satisfied its prices would be the lowest in the market.
He said the company traded in euro and would not be pricing to sterling. Prices were set once a year when the catalogue listing all 9,500 item in the Ikea range was published. Prices in the Republic will be listed in the next catalogue, to be published in mid-August.
He said he believed prices on both sides of the Border would be the same when the Ballymun store opened at 11am on Monday.
However, a number of items priced by The Irish Timeswere markedly cheaper in the UK. For example, a Klippan two-seater sofa cost €299 in Dublin but €259.22 (£224.13) in the UK. A Hemnes chest of six drawers was €199 in Dublin and €174.51 (£151.70) in the UK. A Hermelin child's cot was €119 in Dublin and €84.92 (£73.40) in the UK.
Vat on most furnishings is 21.5 in the Republic but only 15 per cent in the North. Ikea’s Belfast store opened in 2007 and has attracted thousands of customers from the Republic.
Fingal County Council said it was satisfied that traffic congestion would not be an issue when the store opened.
Although the upgrading of the Ballymun interchange required under the planning permission will not be completed until October, the council has decided the road infrastructure has been improved sufficiently to allow Ikea to open.