Ikea has opened its first UK city centre store in London today.

Customers will be able to buy home accessories and soft furnishings at the store which is in Hammersmith, west London. 

Also available to purchase will be room sets, beds, wardrobes, and bookshelves for home delivery. 

The retailer hopes customers will visit the shop more and may open more if it is successful. 

UK and Ireland boss Peter Jelkeby said: “You should be able to shop with Ikea physically without a car. This was the perfect location for that. You can take public transport, you can bike, you don’t need a car.

“We hope to find demographics of customers who can support this kind of experience.”

Jelkeby said he hopes customers can visit the city centre store more often and rather than just for big purchases. 

“We want customers to be able to shop more spontaneously and pop in for things like extra candles. But customers won’t be able to walk out with a Billy bookshelf,” he said. 

This Is Local London: The outlet will open in Hammersmith, west London, on February 24 with a new "small store" format (PA)The outlet will open in Hammersmith, west London, on February 24 with a new "small store" format (PA)

The Ikea store in Hammersmith will be inside the Kings Mall shopping centre, which was bought in 2020 by Ikea’s Ingka Centre business.

The store is a quarter of the size of a typical site and will offer 1,800 products, alongside 4,000 display products.

It will also offer food and drink, including the famous Ikea meatballs. 

The new store is part of a £1 billion investment in London over the next three years and a second shop will take over the former site of Topshop in Oxford Circus.