Ikea reopening plans and rules explained, including when its restaurants will start serving

IKEA has revealed a number of rules that shoppers will have to follow when it reopens stores in England and Wales on April 12.

The retailer said it would be putting in place “stringent” measures to ensure that staff and customers can shop safely when stores reopen next week.

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Ikea will reopen stores in England and Wales on April 12[/caption]

This includes putting extra hand sanitiser facilities throughout stores, and more cleaning will take place – especially across bathrooms, trolleys, bags, touchscreens and rest areas.

However, restaurants in stores will remain closed until May 17 in line with Government guidelines.

But Ikea‘s Bistros, which offer a contact-free takeaway service, will remain open along with its Swedish Food Markets.

It comes as Boris Johnson confirmed non-essential retail will reopen on April 12 as planned under his roadmap out of lockdown.

If you’re planning on taking a trip to Ikea when stores reopen from next week, you’ll have to follow a number of rules.

 

Social distancing measures will be in place throughout stores, and wardens will be in shops to ensure these rules are being followed.

Customers and staff must wear masks and workers’ temperatures will also be checked.

There will be a staggered entry system and only a limited number of customers will be allowed to shop in store at any one time.

This means that you might have to queue outside during busier times.

Ikea is also encouraging shoppers to pay using contactless payment methods.

Protective screens will also be put in place in key areas including checkouts, service points and customer returns desks.

However, all play areas will remain closed.

You can find where your nearest Ikea is using the shop’s store locator tool on its website.

Ikea also confirmed click and collect services will resume in stores in Northern Ireland from April 12.

Shoppers can still continue to use Ikea’s click and collect service in England and Wales if they don’t want to shop in store.

There are 4,000 click and collect drop off points you can use nationwide.

Ikea stores in Scotland have already reopened after non-essential retailers were allowed to welcome back customers on April 5.

Ikea UK&IE country retail manager Peter Jelkeby said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming customers safely back into our stores, inspiring people to live a better and more sustainable everyday through our range of affordable home furnishings.”

Ikea hasn’t confirmed whether opening times will vary from what shoppers are used to when stores reopen.

But we’ve asked for information and will update you as soon as we know more.

Ikea be able to launch its new buy back scheme which lets shoppers trade unwanted furniture back to the retailer in exchange for gift cards when stores reopen.

The second-hand furniture sold will then be made available for other customers to purchase.

The “Buy Back” scheme was piloted in Edinburgh and Glasgow stores last year. Due to the pandemic the plan to launch it in all other Ikea UK and Ireland shops on November 27 was postponed.

Ikea is not the only shop that has revealed its reopening plans this week to excited shoppers gearing up to return to the high street.

Primark is planning to extend opening hours across almost all stores when they reopen next week.

For the first week from April 12, stores will open for two extra hours per day on average – typically an hour earlier and later.

Huge queues are expected though, so Primark is urging shoppers to “keep up the support and spirit” they showed last year when waiting in line.

The Sun also revealed what rules shoppers must follow when making a trip to Next.

Rules include capping the number of people allowed in a store in one go – the maximum number varies depending on the size of the store.

A marshall will be stationed at the entrances to monitor numbers and it will operate an one-in-one-out policy at busier times.

The store also announced it was launching a huge online sale, slashing prices by over 50%.

Primark is extending opening hours in all stores when non-essential retail reopens, and huge queues are expected.

We explain when high street shops including Argos, H&M and Dunelm will reopen on April 12.

Working from home measures will remain in place until at least June.