Scarborough residents are reacting after IKEA Canada announced it will be closing its Scarborough Town Centre (STC) location in the new year due to lower than expected sales.
The retail store made the announcement on Tuesday and said the location will close in early 2026, nearly two years after it opened its doors in the east-end mall.
The location operated as a city-centre store offering a smaller selection of home products, a format IKEA says it’s been testing in several regions.
However, in a statement to Now Toronto, the retail giant says the doors will be closing due to lower than expected performance.
“Shifting consumer behaviour towards online shopping combined with the limited range of cash and carry products that could be offered within the small city-centre store format have resulted in lower sales and higher operating costs than expected,” the statement said.
IKEA says more than 33 million shoppers visited their stores last year, but more than 162 million people shopped online.
The statement adds that the decision to close the STC location was not taken lightly, and the company will be supporting all 130 employees at the location during the transition.
Shoppers and Scarborough residents have taken to social media to express their shock, with some saying the store offered convenience without having to travel to other parts of the city.
“It was so much more convenient though, North York site is chaotic,” a Reddit user said.
“That sucks. Beat going to North York when you needed a few things from the marketplace.
“It was really convenient to browse online and be able to go to the showroom to see it in person and then order to pick it up from there. Now I’d have to go all the way to North York which is always a zoo,” another user said.
Some residents say they noticed a lot of foot traffic in the store, which makes the sudden closure even more shocking.
IKEA is the latest store in the mall to shut down following the closure of Decathlon and Hudson Bay earlier this year, both spaces continue to sit empty in the mall.
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In a statement to Now Toronto, STC says that transitions such as this are part of the business evolving retail landscape, but did not confirm if any new tenants will be occupying the empty spaces anytime soon.
“We continue to evolve our offerings at STC to meet our customer’s needs and as always, will activate available space with new and exciting concepts,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
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