IKEA opened in New Zealand for the first time at the start of December. For all our American or European friends this means that until December 4th 2025, New Zealand was in a furniture desert. Pretty much all the furniture we had access to was pricy and anything that was cheap was terrible terrible quality. I know there is a lot of murmuring about IKEA ‘cardboard’ furniture, so take my word for it that the quality was worse than that.
Weirdly, even though we come from a land of trees and green any actual quality wood furniture was obscenely expensive. Which combined with the ‘living in the arse end of the world so can’t ship in from overseas without selling a kidney’ meant that the options for filling a house were somewhat limited.
Something funny has happened since IKEA arrived however, people have collectively lost their damn minds. Or maybe there just isn’t much going on in New Zealand to fill a news cycle… but every man and his Reddit account seem to have an opinion on IKEA. You are either a sycophantic devotee or you have your pitchfork at the ready, with the truth as always being smack bang in the middle. Fact: A furniture store has opened. But facts have been voted as unexciting in 2025.
The difference is that while NZ in recent years has finally started to see some overseas brands creep in (looking at you H&M and Zara), no one has done it on the marketing scale of IKEA. The activations have been impeccable in terms of driving excitement and being at the forefront of social media/news. Of course this meant that people kept talking about the opening and then judging the offering in a way that has not been seen before.
I mean, I am most excited about it as a destination to walk around for three hours before impulse buying a new garlic crusher – but of course you can buy a couch as well.
Anyway what I was actually interested in is the simple square bookcase, mostly because there are many identical (on the surface at least, I assume the quality varies) options on the market. Because I am fascinated by how IKEA is going to impact the other retailers in NZ, if they will have the budget and bravery to compete, pivot or for some of them I think the harsh reality is that IKEA spells death.
It is already happening, the three stores which were the closest competitor to IKEA (i.e. flat packed furniture) are Nood, Mocka and Urban Sales (who used to be an IKEA reseller) seem to be rapidly moving to higher price but more niche/fashionable/quality design. All of which can only be good for the NZ market, all of a sudden our options are expanding and we might finally be able to get the TikTok worthy homes that the rest of the world has. Or even just be able to afford a couch when we move out of home for the first time.
Win win.
Personally I freakin love IKEA, something about walking around the showroom and seeing all the possibilities set up scratches an itch in my brain. And the garlic crusher frankly crushes.
Although from a business process point of view I would LOVE to know why they opened on the 4th of December. Couriers/post around Christmas is always a nightmare (I don’t think that is unique to New Zealand), and IKEA felt the pinch as well. There were so many issues with their online orders that within two weeks of opening they had to close their call centre for two days just to catch up. And they halted all their online orders and are only now just slowly starting to open them again.
I really feel for the team members who jumped into a new set of logistics at the worst time of year while the eyes of 5 million were on them. Fingers crossed that in 2026, once things have calmed down, kiwis can visit IKEA themselves and find their own opinion on the mega-brand. If I know this country at all, I think the grumbly opinions will continue because there is not much else to talk about – all the while our homes become stocked with the IKEA catalogue.
Superficial & Deranged 
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