Okanagan residents no longer have to drive four plus hours to reach a famous furniture store.
On Wednesday, April 8, excited residents lined up around the corner for the grand opening of IKEA’s new plan and order point store at #103-1500 Banks Road.
“We have been talking about this for such a long time,” said IKEA area manager for Western Canada Janet McGowan, who added it’s been several years in the making. “We knew there was a lot of love for IKEA here in Kelowna, so we knew that part of our vision is to be able to be more accessible, more affordable to the many people, so that we knew we needed to someday get here. We’re really excited that we were able to make it happen this year.”
This is the second plan and order point store in B.C., with the other being in Abbotsford. Different from the full stores in Richmond and Coquitlam, a plan and order point store aims to make IKEA products more accessible to British Columbians. The store offers around 150 in-store products as well as one-on-one planning services. However, shoppers can order for delivery or pick-up any products IKEA offers.
“There’s over 80 orders [in the warehouse] today already,” said McGowan. “It was really important for us also to have the ability to have quite a large warehouse on the back of the unit so that we could have orders brought here.”
The Kelowna store is around 700 square meters in size, less than one quarter the size of the Coquitlam store. Across Canada, it’s the 12th plan and order point store.
“Every single unit that we have has a different role in the shopping experience,” said McGowan. “It is really designed to be for the people of Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley. You’re going to find lots of relevant solutions here designed with the people that live here in mind.”
On Wednesday morning, dignitaries and media got a chance to tour the new facility, before a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m., leading to the opening of the store.
And IKEA #Kelowna is officially open! https://t.co/NXePq5Glnb pic.twitter.com/7CtZvMKhwx
— Jordy Cunningham (@CunninghamJordy) April 8, 2026
The first purchase was made just five minutes into its existence, at 10:05 a.m.
“Our vision is to create an everyday better life for the many people, that starts here today,” said IKEA Canada CEO and chief sustainability officer Selwyn Crittendon. “[This store] gives us a great pride to bring a new customer meeting point to the important region and vibrant community.”
With the accessibility much easier locally now, McGowan joked about how Okanagan residents don’t need to make the drive down to the Lower Mainland anymore.
“I’m thrilled that we’re now saving Kelowna residents the four-hour-plus drive, on a good day,” McGowan shared. “We know that you love shopping with us, but we don’t expect you to love us that much, [that] they want to keep doing that drive.”
Over the years, IKEA has been able to keep their prices affordable despite inflation and other factors. With the new store, that trend has continued.
McGowan said he’s proud to now have a physical presence in Kelowna, adding “we’ve also been able to lower our delivery pricing by nearly half.”
When asked if Kelowna would ever get a store the size of Richmond or Coquitlam, McGowan said she doesn’t know what the future holds.
“In our commitment to keep our prices so low that people can afford them, we have to choose the right location to be able to make sure we can protect that, so one of the things that we decided to do is that we felt that this was the right plan and order point, was the right format for this particular market,” said McGowan. “I don’t know what the future holds but I do know that whatever we do it will be with that … at the core of our decision making.”