UPDATE, May 26 2020: IKEA put out a press release today detailing that Montreal is among several IKEA locations across Canada that is now open for business with all of the restrictions detailed in this article.
IKEA's a gift that keeps on giving: First the Swedish retailer turned heads during the world's lockdown by sharing its meatball recipe, and now it's announcing that it will be reopening select locations in Canada—Quebec City included.
The company's now welcoming back customers to to its Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Quebec City store locations with a lot of "enhanced, preventative health and safety measures across the shopping experience and operations to ensure co-workers and customers feel safe to work and shop," the company said today in its release. IKEA says it has not yet decided on a date for the opening of its stores in Montreal and Boucherville.
So what does that mean for shoppers? Given the restrictions that social distancing requires, areas like the children’s play area Småland will be closed, and the IKEA Bistro will only be selling food for takeout. As for shopping, the company provided the following list:
- There will be "strict physical distancing guidelines, a minimum of 2-metres apart" that will include floor decals for line-ups
- The number of visitors overall will be limited, and there will be limits on how many people can be in certain areas at one time.
- There will be frequent sanitization and cleaning of "units" and surfaces, which includes carts after every use.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) will be provided to co-workers.
- Expect separation screens around cash registers and the customer service points around the store.
- Hand sanitizer will be provided throughout its open locations with "clear information on preventive hygiene methods to minimize the potential risk of infection"
- Co-workers and third-party vendors will have health and safety requirements, including temperature checks when they enter the building for work.
As with most industries affected by the arrival of the pandemic, shoppers are being advise to try to plan ahead for their purchases; it's something that's being seen with some restaurants that reopen for takeout, ordering anything online—as wait times have increased for any delivery—and holidays or events that draw a lot of orders, like flowers for Mother's Day one week ago.
Overall, shoppers are essentially discouraged from treating a trip to IKEA as a time to browse the store. The company advises potential visitors to consider "planning their specific purchase in advance, checking stock availability (online), considering (to visit during) a non-peak time or later date to shop if the need isn’t immediate, (and) only touching product that they intend to buy and shopping in groups of two or less."
As for if you have bought something recently or plan to buy something soon? You should probably be taking advantage of the company's "365-day return policy and return products at a later time," and there will be contactless curbside pickup of purchases.
“We believe that health and safety is our shared responsibility and we thank our customers for doing their part,” said Michael Ward, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer.
Other store locations across Canada remain temporarily closed since the company's decision to shut down business for all of its Canadian locations on March 18, 2020.
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