Ikea Pick Up Point Review

Ikea is expanding throughout Ontario lately through adding their smaller format Pick up and Order point locations. I stopped in at the one in Kitchener to check it out. This is my Ikea Pick Up Point review. 

Ikea Pick up Point Review

First thing you notice walking into the Ikea Pick up Point is that it is part warehouse, part inspiration or design center. You will find many of Ikea’s more popular items displayed, like the Ektorp couches.

Quite a bit of space is dedicated to kitchen design. While there aren’t as many completed kitchen displays like a full Ikea, you can see the different types of cabinets. You can even outfit your kitchen with a new kitchen table and chairs.

There are very few actual textiles to buy in store. There are duvets displayed on a number of different Ikea bed frames so that you can see the patterns in person. There are also a number of bathroom sinks displayed but comparably less space dedicated to bathrooms and bedroom than to kitchens.

Half of the Ikea Pick up Point is dedicated to the self serve warehouse section of an Ikea where you pick up the boxes of the items you want to buy.

I was surprised how many larger items were available to buy right in the pick up point. Lots of dining room chairs, dressers and kitchen tables were on hand in store.

I was expecting the ready to buy items to be smaller more impulse buys. Instead I saw things like a Hemnes dresser or a kitchen table.

Also I expected some more seasonal items again to get more impulse buys while customers might be in store to do a kitchen design or research some larger purchases.

Is it worth visiting an Ikea Pick up Order Point?

So is it worth visiting the Ikea Pick up and Order point? Well that depends on a few factors. When we lived in Toronto we had 2 Ikeas within 30 minutes of our house. Using a pick up and order point wouldn’t have made much of sense. Still these locations are extremely busy, especially on weekends. If you are looking for a quiet location to plan a kitchen you might want to consider the pick up and order points.

Now the closest Ikea to us is over an hour away. We would easily spend more than $20 in gas on a round trip. That means the shipping charges to the order point make much more sense. $20 might seem like expensive shipping until you compare how much it costs to ship furniture. Often home delivery costs $60 or more. Yes you are not shipping to your home but that is why you are getting the savings! Plus remember there is no restrictions on your order size! So you can get as much as you want shipped to the store for that $20.

If you love Ikea for the experience and the inspiration you should consider driving to one of their larger locations. This scaled down version is missing so much of the magic. There is no kids section, no $1.99 breakfast, not as much of decor or textiles. In fact in an area like Kitchener I was surprised that none of the space of the Ikea pick up point was dedicated to office furniture.

Still I will start paying more attention to my Ikea catalog for inspiration and ordering online for Ikea. Remember the more people who shop their local pick up point locations the more likely Ikea will invest in a full fledged Ikea in your area!

Have you been to a Ikea pick up point location? What did you think?