IKEA Wants You To Thrive Productively Inside Its Malls (With Coworking Spaces)

Image via IKEA

IKEA’s ‘Life at Home’ philosophy is moving beyond your humble doorstep. Ingka Group, which runs most IKEA stores, is purchasing malls and adding coworking spaces, play areas for kids, and food courts with a Nordic twist to them. The move is part of a wider plan to make these buildings more than just places for shopping.

At 945 Market St in San Francisco, for example, the company has designated a “meeting place” right above a new and modern IKEA store that mixes things up with zones for working, eating, and hanging out. Here, you’ll find a Hej!Workshop, a coworking space spanning 46,000 square feet created with flexible space firm Industrious.

San Francisco’s home(y) office—decorated, of course, with IKEA furniture—is only the second one of its kind, with the first Hej!Workshop situated in Stockholm, Sweden.

Hej!Workshop in Stockholm. Image via Ingka Centers

Cindy Andersen, the managing director of Ingka Centers, tells the Wall Street Journal that the assorted additions meet the changing ideals of customers who are seeking options that bring “much more, not only shopping.”

Hej!Workshop in Stockholm. Image via Ingka Centers

Ingka Centers, a part of the Ingka Group, is looking to grow big in the US, and this meeting place idea is leading the way. It wants to go beyond just selling stuff by creating spaces that really fit what local communities need.

Right now, Ingka Centers has 34 malls open around the world and is working on opening seven more. These venues have IKEA stores but also aim to pull in more people by offering different services and fun experiences.

Hej!Workshop in Stockholm. Image via Ingka Centers

Even though more people are shopping online or preferring outdoor malls, Ingka is betting that offering more than just shopping—like coworking spaces and places for events—can get people excited about stepping outside again. A little unusual for a brand famously fixated on making people’s time at home more enjoyable and conducive.

IKEA San Francisco. Image via Ingka Centers

Ingka Group is also experimenting with smaller IKEA stores to get into city centers, knocking down more walls for urban dwellers.

“Our meeting places are evolving to stay relevant to modern lives, and I’m excited by all the ways in which we’re working with communities to tailor our experiences to their needs,” says Jens Nielsen, Ingka Centers’ global commercial and digital director.

“I’ve never been more convinced that retail, leisure, and business benefit from physical connected spaces that complement modern digital lifestyles. We’ve all spent too long locked away, and the value of exposure to new ideas, experiences, and contacts has never been higher,” Nielsen elaborates.

[via Business Insider and Bisnow, images via various sources]