IKEA is shutting ANOTHER UK store in just a fortnight's time after ‘lessons learned' amid customer backlash
Scroll down for a full list of stores closing
BED-DER SAFE IKEA is shutting ANOTHER UK store in just a fortnight's time after 'lessons learned' amid customer backlash
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
YET another IKEA store has announced it's shutting its doors and saying farewell - or farväl - to customers.
Retail giant IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943, and opened its first UK branch in Warrington, Cheshire, in 1987.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
2
The homeware retailer has confirmed the Plan and Order point is closing
Credit: Getty
The next Swedish store to pull the plug is the Aintree Plan and Order Point store in Liverpool.
Set up in December 2022, the Aintree Racecourse Retail Park store was the first 'test and trial format' in the UK.
The smaller Plan & Order Point store was dedicated to kitchen and bedroom planning, and offered customers home furnishing advice.
IKEA explained the closure was 'a result of valuable learnings which will take the conceptual format in a direction to better suit the needs of UK customers'.
A spokesperson for the retail giant expressed: 'There has been an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, something which, owing to the space available, the current location is unable to offer.
'To better service its customers, future Plan and Order Point openings, including in Dundee, Hull and York will offer these services.
"IKEA also remains committed to trialling new formats including its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in Chester later this year.'
Customers will be able to collect any purchases from Tesco Extra Birkenhead, Tesco Superstore Old Swan, the Warrington store or the upcoming smaller new Chester store.
The disheartening retail news comes after the closure of IKEA Stockport in Merseyway Shopping Centre, which opened just two years ago.
The retailer has confirmed that both Plan and Order points will be closing on June 16.
The Sun takes a trip inside the new Ikea Oxford Street
Other Plan and Order points, such as the ones in Dundee, York and Hull, will be adapted to meet those new demands and also include a small range of home furnishing accessories to buy.
The news comes after IKEA opened its own hotel in the Canary Islands.
Boasting cheap rooms, a swimming pool and breakfast, it also offers some of their most popular homeware items.
Las Dunas de Santa Catalina Boutique House is a new two-star hotel owned by the interiors brand in Gran Canaria.
Rooms start from £105 a night, which includes a continental breakfast, and works out to just over £50 a night for two people.
2
The Merseyside Plan & Order Point will cease to trade from mid June
Credit: Alamy
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Houseplants will ‘bloom for years' thanks to common item in your food bin – and peace lilies find it ‘so tasty'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IF you often struggle to keep your houseplants alive (don't worry, we do too), then you've come to the right place. There's nothing worse than someone giving you a houseplant and just days later, it's looking worse for wear. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 If every houseplant you own ends up dying within days, you'll need to listen up Credit: Getty 3 Here's a handy hack to keep peace lilies alive 'for years' - and the secret is in your food bin Credit: Getty 3 It turns out that houseplants find banana peels "so tasty" Credit: Getty But now, luckily for you, we've found a handy hack that will ensure your plants bloom for years. And fear not, you won't have to nip out and splash the cash on pricey fertiliser - in fact, the secret may even be in your food bin. Peace lilies in particular are said to find this trick 'so tasty', so if you want to ensure repeat blooming, this homemade feed is one you won't want to miss. When it comes to caring for peace lilies, it is important to only feed them once a month during the growing season, which is spring and summer. It turns out that overfeeding can be harmful, so it's important to avoid excess fertiliser. And now, gardening enthusiasts have shared a super simple homemade fertiliser - and the key ingredient is banana peels. Taking to the Gardening Hints and Tips Facebook page, an anonymous user explained: 'In the summer, I feed my houseplants with a homemade banana soak. 'My peace lily loves it, just thought I'd share it in case anyone is struggling. 'I've always struggled to get my peace lilies looking good, but bananas make them bloom for years.' The gardening guru then added: 'Once I've eaten a banana or given it to my dog, I'll chop the peel and soak it in some warm water. Gardening hacks to grow fruit from your weekly shop 'After a few days, pour sparingly on your plants, so tasty for them.' The social media post attracted numerous comments from other houseplant enthusiasts, who also praised the effective banana peel trick. Top 5 Spring Gardening Jobs *If you click a link in this boxout, we may earn affiliate revenue Nick Grey, Gtech Inventor and CEO shared the tasks to crack on with as Spring arrives. 1. Clean your garden Make sure to clear away all leaves, soil and plant debris from your patios and flower beds; this creates a healthier environment for new growth, especially as we get into the summer months. Gtech's Garden Safety Kit includes durable gardening gloves and safety glasses; perfect for comfortability whilst tackling those outdoor tasks. 2. Weeding Early Spring is the best time to tackle weeds; if you can introduce some regular weeding into your routine, you can guarantee a tidy garden all year round. 3. Hedge maintenance Spring is the ideal time to tidy up overgrown hedges and shrubs, as regular trimming ensures healthy growth and reduces pest issues. Using a tool like the Gtech Lightweight Hedge Trimmer can help to keep your greenery looking sharp and neat. 4. Composting Starting a compost heap this spring is a pro-active, cost-effective way to harness nutritious soil for your plants and recycle organic waste that will benefit the overall health of your greenery and foliage. 5. Look after your lawn Lawn care is hugely important in assuring your garden stays looking beautiful. Make sure to rake away any excess leaves and trim your grass routinely. One user beamed: 'Heard lots about this, so I gave it a go. I only use it now and again and then a proper feed in between, but it's fantastic.' Whilst a second chimed in: 'All houseplants love this, not just peace lilies, but be careful not to over water.' I've always struggled to get my peace lilies looking good, but bananas make them bloom for years Facebook user According to houseplant enthusiasts, soaking banana peels in water releases nutrients such as potassium, phosphorus and magnesium, which are beneficial for many houseplants, but peace lilies in particular. It is crucial to dilute the banana water with water to make it last longer and ensure it doesn't overwhelm the plant. 8 must-have plants to brighten up your garden Nick Hamilton owner of Barnsdale Gardens has shared his favourite plants and flowers you should consider adding to your garden, borders and pots. Tricyrtis A spectacular plant that gives a real exotic feel to any garden with its orchid-like, spotted flowers giving the impression that this plant should be tender but it is 'as tough as old boots!'. Penstemon I love this plants genus of because most will flower all summer and autumn. They'll grow in sun or semi-shade in a well drained soil and produce a non-stop display of tubular flowers in an array of colours and colour combination to suit all tastes. Luzula sylvatica 'Marginata' With the evergreen leaves edged with yellow it's great asset is that it will grow in sun or shade in any type of soil and is great as groundcover in the hardest spot to fill - dry shade. Eryngium x zabelii 'Big Blue' A stunning, nectar-rich plant that will feed the beneficial insects in your garden. Leave the flowerheads once they have turned brown because they look stunning with winter frost and snow, extending the plant's interest period. Sarcococca hookeriana 'Winter Gem' If you need winter scent then look no further than this compact, evergreen shrub. The scent is stunning and the evergreen leaves create an excellent backdrop for the summer flowers. Cornus sanguinea 'Anny's Winter Orange' A dwarf version of 'Midwinter Fire' the very colourful stems create a stunning winter display, particularly on sunny days. Rosa 'Noisette Carnee' A very well-behaved climbing rose that is perfect for training over an arch, pergola or gazebo. The small, 'noisette' flowers are blush-pink and produce the most amazing clove scent constantly from June to November. Sanguisorba hakusanensis 'Lilac Squirrel' I've never seen a squirrel with a drooping, shaggy lilac tail, but this variety will give your garden an unusual and different look throughout summer. It does need a moisture retentive soil but will grow in sun or semi-shade. Not only this, but banana peels can also be used to fertilise outdoor plants, including tomatoes, bell peppers, roses and hydrangeas. If planting a new plant, you should simply scatter some banana peels beneath the compost, or place them around the top of the soil. Not only will this be beneficial to your plants, but it can also help to deter pests such as slugs, who hate rough surfaces. Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Japanese rover smashes into moon in fresh disaster for embattled space company
Japanese company ispace has declared a second failure in a bid for its lunar lander to touchdown on the moon after communication was lost less than two minutes before the scheduled grounding A lunar lander from a Japanese company crashed while attempting a touchdown on the moon in the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon and the second failure for the same company. The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada apologized to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for ispace. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name 'Resilience' for its successor lander. Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions. This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously,' Hakamada told reporters. He stressed that the company would press ahead with more lunar missions. A preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned, and the lander descended too fast, officials said. 'Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface,' the company said in a written statement. Moon missions had previously been the preserve of governments but it became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than wins along the way. Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. It shared a SpaceX ride with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which reached the moon faster and became the first private entity to successfully land there in March. Another US company, Intuitive Machines, arrived at the moon a few days after Firefly. But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the moon's south pole and was declared dead within hours. Resilience was targeting the top of the moon, a less treacherous place than the shadowy bottom. The ispace team chose a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a long and narrow region full of craters and ancient lava flows that stretches across the near side's northern tier. Plans had called for the 7.5-feet Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sported a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for NASA. The rover, weighing just 5kgs, was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than two centimetres per second. It was capable of venturing up to two-thirds of a mile from the lander and should be operational throughout the two-week mission, the period of daylight. Besides science and tech experiments, there was an artistic touch. The rover held a tiny, Swedish-style red cottage with white trim and a green door, dubbed the Moonhouse by creator Mikael Genberg, for placement on the lunar surface. Minutes before the attempted landing, Hakamada assured everyone that ispace had learned from its first failed mission. 'Engineers did everything they possibly could' to ensure success this time, he said. He considered the latest moonshot 'merely a steppingstone' to its bigger lander launching by 2027 with NASA involvement. Ispace, like other businesses, does not have 'infinite funds' and cannot afford repeated failures, Jeremy Fix, chief engineer for ispace's US subsidiary, said at a conference last month. While not divulging the cost of the current mission, company officials said it's less than the first one which exceeded £74million. Two other US companies are aiming for moon landings by year's end: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Astrobotic Technology. Astrobotic's first lunar lander missed the moon altogether in 2024 and came crashing back through Earth's atmosphere. For decades, governments competed to get to the moon. Only five countries have pulled off successful robotic lunar landings: Russia, the US, China, India and Japan. Of those, only the US has landed people on the moon: 12 NASA astronauts from 1969 through 1972. NASA expects to send four astronauts around the moon next year. That would be followed a year or more later by the first lunar landing by a crew in more than a half-century, with SpaceX's Starship providing the lift from lunar orbit all the way down to the surface. China also has moon landing plans for its own astronauts by 2030.
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Major update as Scottish university gets set to axe 300 full-time jobs
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TOP university has revealed a major update in its plan to axe 300 full-time jobs. Dundee University has now opened a voluntary redundancy scheme after coming up with an "alternative pathway" to solving the financial crisis at the institution. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Around 300 roles will now be cut at the uni through a voluntary programme Credit: Alamy 3 Students and staff taking part in a rally and march in Dundee after the job cuts announcement Credit: PA In March, we told how the uni estimated that 700 staff would be affected by a devastating job cull required to balance its books. But under new proposals last month, around 300 roles will now be cut through a voluntary programme. The scheme was put together after talks with campus trade unions and approved by the university court. Voluntary redundancy was opened today and will run until July 25, The Courier reports. Staff who accept the deal will leave their jobs by September 30. A spokesperson added: "This is an important step in the recovery plan for the university, as we look to reduce staffing by 300 fulltime-equivalent through the voluntary scheme." The cuts were first revealed by interim principal Professor Shane O'Neill during a meeting, where he cited "the current financial crisis" as the reason behind the decision. Professor O'Neill had previously warned MSPs that the university could run out of cash by June without lifeline support. The Scottish Funding Council has since approved a £22 million emergency support package, and an investigation into the crisis has been launched. The uni has also lodged a full funding request for £100million bail-out. University Challenge contestant admits 'I don't understand the question' as they struggle to answer in quarter-final - but could you get it right? Labour MSP Michael Marra previously described the job losses as "devastating" for university staff and the Dundee economy. The job losses come amid an ongoing debate over university funding in Scotland. Critics argue that the Scottish Government's "free" tuition model is putting severe pressure on university finances, leading to limits on the number of Scottish students accepted onto courses since international students pay higher fees. Dundee is not the only university in Scotland to plan to cut jobs this year. Around 350 employees of the University of Edinburgh have accepted voluntary severance as part of ongoing efforts to reduce costs. And the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) plans to axe 75 jobs.
