The closure of the Ikea on rue Paul-Déroulède has not escaped anyone. Nothing serious in this change, since this kitchen design workshop had opened in 2020 while waiting for the flagship of the plain of the Var, which will celebrate its year of operation on May 11, to find its cruising speed. It’s done. Patrick Cazorla, director of Ikea Nice Saint-Isidore, deciphers the departure of this antenna.
“The situation was very clear from the start. Ikea had wanted to establish itself for decades in the Côte d’Azur basin by adapting its offer to the Nice market. In 2020, we had the opportunity to start our activity in the city center with a format reduced, on 300m2, rue Paul-Déroulède. This space has also allowed us to understand how the people of Nice lived.”
An accessible giant
And since 2020? “Since then, there has been the inauguration of Ikea Saint-Isidore on May 11, 2022 and, in one year, visitors have been and are more than there. The store is accessible from the city center by 30 minutes by tram and there are no difficulties via road and motorway access. This confirms that Ikea is really close to the heart of Nice.”
Duplicate
On the other hand, the workshop of Paul-Déroulède operated on 300m2while in Saint-Isidore the kitchen area covers 1,200m2. “We had, in the end, an urban format that duplicated a sometimes frustrating aspect. Indeed, some customers coming to Paul-Déroulède were disappointed not to be able to buy accessories or not to design plans for d ‘other areas of the house such as the bathroom, the bedroom…”
No layoffs
So what? “The proximity of the end of the lease prompted us to close this point of sale. I would point out that the employees remain the same. At Paul-Déroulède, we were turning between ten and ten employees a day who carried out rotations and who, now, are all found in the Plaine du Var store.”
An eye still in the center
So Ikea remains confined to Saint-Isidore? “We remain active in the heart of the city, in particular through the Nice Shopping trade promotion association, we are partners of major events such as the Nice Jazz Festival and we do not exclude the possibility of another point of sale, a day, in the city center. We are thinking regarding smaller formats for service stores.”
Healthy investment
What will there be in place of Ikea Paul-Déroulède? “I do not know, says Patrick Cazorla. We will have a meeting with the lessor next week for an inventory. We had invested more than 700,000 euros in this room to improve it. It can become the new setting for an attractive establishment…”
