Ikea to step up presence in Inverness with new lockers in supermarket car park

Press and Journal

2 days ago

Welcome back to Planning Ahead – which brings you a round-up of the latest proposals across Inverness.
Following Ikea's successful launch of a click and collect service last year, the Swedish furniture giant submitted plans to install 40 pick-up lockers at Tesco Inshes car park.
They have now been given the green light.
Meanwhile, plans have been submitted to replace the front sign of the High Street's WH Smith with a TG Jones one.
It comes just over two months after WH Smith sold its nearly 500 High Street stores to Modella Capital.
Plans have also been submitted to build a new active travel path for cyclists and pedestrians north of Inverness.
In the last planning ahead, we revealed that an Inverness B&B had submitted plans to transform a garage into short-term let accommodation.
Plans to do the exact thing at a property in Dalneigh have now been submitted.
Let's get to it this week!
Last March, we published that WH Smith had agreed to sell all 500 of its UK High Street shops, which employ around 5,000 people, in a £76 million deal.
The 233-year-old British retailer reached a deal to sell the chain to Modella Capital, which will see the stores rebranded as TG Jones.
The first steps to convert the WH Smith store on the High Street into a TG Jones shop have now been taken.
Plans have been submitted to replace the front sign of the premises with two large blue signs reading TG Jones.
The planning application reads that the additions will 'keep with the character of the area and will have very little impact on the surrounding properties.'
TG Jones has been chosen by the new owners to evoke a sense of the same long family history that WH Smith has. The offering of the store is expected to remain similar.
A new active travel path could be built north of Inverness.
The Cawdor & West Nairnshire Community has submitted plans to form a path about half a mile long for cyclists and pedestrians.
It would be connected to an existing pathway from Clephanton to Croy that is parallel to the B9091.
The proposed new route would initially run along a boundary gap between a conifer woodland and roadside broadleaf strip.
It would then go along the edge of a field and the verge of the B9091 by Heathpark.
Amid the holiday let boom, the owners of a property on Columba Road have submitted plans to convert a garage into 'habitable accommodation for short term lets'.
According to the application, the new short-term let accommodation will be managed by the homeowner.
The proposed accommodation would include one bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen/living room area.
Ikea lovers are in luck as plans to install dozens of pick-up lockers at a supermarket car park have now been approved.
The Swedish retailer has been operating a mobile pick-up point at Tesco Inshes over recent months.
The company explained that this has proved 'successful', with the new proposals aiming to provide a 'permanent, secure and attractive service for customers.'
The company informed that the pick-up point will no longer be in operation once the lockers are installed.
The new facility will be located at the northern end of the car park and will feature a block of 40 storage lockers.
It will lead to the loss of around eight to 10 parking spaces at the site.
The lockers will be blue and yellow, the colours associated with the IKEA brand, to help customers identify the location.
They will be of different sizes and will accommodate a range of orders, from home accessories and homewares to furniture.
A safe collection area protected by bollards and integrated LED lighting will be set up in front of the lockers.
Customers will be able to collect their order after receiving a six-digit code.
Permission has also been granted to install two new Ikea signs above the lockers, which will be internally illuminated at night.
A spokesperson for Ikea UK said: 'We're always exploring ways to provide our customers in and around the Inverness area with convenient and cost-effective delivery solutions such as our pick-up lockers.
'As a convenient and accessible way for shoppers to pick up their purchases, our lockers are a popular choice among customers.
'We look forward to sharing more details about our plans and what this means for the local community in due course.
'In the meantime, Inverness residents can shop online, with the option of using our Ikea collection point at Tesco Extra Inverness.'