IKEA Canada is opening new Collection Points in five Atlantic Canadian cities, including St. John’s.The Collection Points are warehouses where customers can pick up furniture ordered from the IKEA website to save on shipping fees. The St. John’s Collection Point will be located on Glencoe Drive in Donovan’s Industrial park.

Items will be delivered to the St. John’s Collection Point for a collection fee of $79, a flat rate that will stay the same regardless of the size or value of the purchase. The fee is significantly cheaper than the average home delivery fee, which is typically about $155. Home delivery will still be available for anyone who isn’t able to wrangle a friend with a pickup truck.

“Our ambition is to become more accessible to as many Canadians as possible,” said Liz Wilson, Vice President, IKEA Canada. “The launch of these five Collection Points is a great way to immediately provide our customers in Atlantic Canada with a more convenient shopping experience.”

Unfortunately, there won’t be anything on display or available for purchase at the Collection Point, this IKEA location will be strictly for picking up items ordered online.

In 2015, IKEA Canada announced a plan to double in size by 2025. Over the next 10 years, the retailer will open new stores in new locations, introduce some new formats and revision some of old formats;Collection Points, Pick-up and order points, improvements in eCommerce and customer-focused distribution.

“In such a large country, it is important to offer a variety of solutions we can use to make shopping easier for Canadians,” said Wilson. “These five locations are natural next steps in our plan to grow the IKEA brand in Canada.”

IKEA became internationally known for their easy to assemble futons and bookcases but they have since branched out to offer everything from bathroom sinks to silicone cupcake moulds. They will continue to offer the practical and attractive furnishings they are famous for through all their distribution channels.

The first new store opening as part of the company’s expansion plan will be IKEA Halifax, set to open in Fall 2017. So there is reason to hope that in the not too distant future Newfoundlanders will also have the opportunity to browse affordable yet fashionable furniture and knick-knacks while munching those famous, baked in-store IKEA cookies.