The CEO of IKEA Canada says the furniture retailer is spending more than $80 million on price reductions in response to customer affordability concerns.

“We know that our consumers now are finding affordability as a crisis,” Selwyn Crittendon, CEO and chief sustainability officer at IKEA Canada, told BNN Bloomberg in a Thursday television interview.

“They have less money for home, for food and for fun. So what can we do at IKEA to balance out that need? (We can) be that first pillar of lowering prices and having more Canadians be available to afford our products and services.”

In a Wednesday press release, the company said it “has begun a long-term journey throughout 2024 to reduce the prices of products across the entire IKEA range.”

Items now being sold for less include the “BILLY” bookcase, selling at $199, or $50 off the previous price, the “STRANDMON” armchair, selling at a $50 discount for $349, and the “VITTSJÖ” laptop stand, being sold for $29.99, down from $59.99. 


Supply challenge solutions

IKEA and other retailers had hiked prices in recent years – increases that Crittendon said were to due economic constraints initially brought on by the pandemic, then by high inflation and supply chain challenges.

“But we’ve worked hard … we have found more efficient ways to operate and we have found costs that we can reduce, but also better supply,” he said.

Crittendon said the company now plans to reinvest those found savings into creating more affordable products, which he said is part of a long-term commitment by IKEA appeal to a wider range of customers.

“We’re not talking about a small adjustment,” he said, “we’re talking about an investment of over $80 million on 1,500 of our favourite products here at IKEA,” adding that the price reductions will also extend to services and food offers.