WTOP: Furniture and housewares retailer IKEA will open new format stores in Fairfax, Virginia, this summer, and in Gaithersburg, Maryland, this fall.
The stores, called “Plan & Order” stores, are much smaller than traditional IKEA stores and don’t actually carry inventory for sale.
Rather, customers meet with designers, choose their furniture, and, in the case of the Fairfax and Gaithersburg stores, return later to pick up what they’ve ordered. Customers can also arrange to have their orders delivered.
The Fairfax IKEA Plan & Order will be at Fairfax Corner at 4206 Fairfax Corner Avenue. In Gaithersburg, the new IKEA store will be in Rio Lakefront at 1010 Boardwalk Place.
“While the Plan & Order point and Plan & Order point with Pick-up are different from our traditional IKEA stores, we hope they better meet the needs of our local customers and provide an IKEA that’s not only more accessible, but also affordable and sustainable,” said Carmen Spinola, market area manager for IKEA U.S.
The Plan & Order concept is intended for customers planning more complicated projects, such as kitchen and bathroom remodels.
IKEA previously announced a Plan & Order store in Pentagon City set to open this summer at Pentagon Center. Orders from that store will be delivery only.
The Northern Virginia stores are among the Swedish furniture chain’s first Plan & Order stores in the U.S.
They are in addition to IKEA’s large format stores in Woodbridge, Virginia, and College Park, Maryland.
