IKEA Canada reopening its Ontario and Quebec stores today

May 26 2020, 3:27 pm

IKEA Canada has announced that as of Tuesday, Ontario and Quebec locations of the furniture retail giant are now open.

According to the company’s press release, this includes outlets in Burlington, Etobicoke, Ottawa, North York, and Vaughan locations in Ontario as well as the Boucherville ad spots in Quebec, with the Quebec City location having had opened on May 19.

The retailer has now welcomed back customers to all 11 stores across Albert, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, with IKEA stores in British Columbia and Nova Scotia being the only Canadian spots that remain temporarily closed.

The company says it is “working in line with recommendations from local governments and health authorities,” having had implemented “enhanced, preventative health, and safety measures” across the IKEA shopping experience network.

The IKEA Restaurant and children’s play area, SmĂĄland, will remain closed and the IKEA Bistro is offering takeout only.

“As we begin to reopen store locations in certain markets, our top priority continues to be the health and safety of our co-workers, customers and communities,” said Michael Ward, CEO and chief sustainability officer of IKEA Canada. “We will continue to act in a responsible way and before making any decisions to open our doors, we have taken steps to ensure our health and safety measures are secured.”

New health and safety measures, with a focus on physical distancing and hygiene practices at IKEA stores include:

  • Strict physical distancing guidelines, a minimum of two-metres apart, including floor decals for line-ups
  • Limiting the number of visitors overall and maintaining a strict capacity in select areas
  • Frequent sanitization and cleaning of units and surfaces incl. carts (after every use)
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) for co-workers
  • Separation screens around cash registers and customer service points
  • Hand sanitizer throughout and clear information on preventive hygiene methods to minimize the potential risk of infection
  • Health and safety requirements for co-workers and third-party vendors, including a temperature check when they enter the building

IKEA is asking its customers to be “mindful of physical distancing guidelines” and limits to store capacity when they plan a visit to the store. This includes planning their specific purchase in advance, checking stock availability on IKEA.ca, considering a non-peak time or later date to shop if the need isn’t immediate, only touching products that they intend to buy, and shopping in groups of two or less.

To avoid long wait times, IKEA also encourages customers to take advantage of its 365-day return policy and return products at a later time.

For customer convenience, IKEA continues to offer contactless Curbside Click & Collect at all store locations, including those which have reopened, and online shopping at IKEA.ca.

“We believe that health and safety is our shared responsibility and we thank our customers for doing their part,” said Ward.

Ty JadahTy Jadah

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