The furniture company Ingka Group (Ikea UK), who bought Churchill Square Shopping Centre in Brighton last year, are set to open in the former Debenhams unit on the upper two levels.
As part of these plans, Ikea hoped to use the centre’s existing middle car park level as a click-and-collect service.
Brighton and Hove City Council has now approved the proposal for 20 click and collect parking spaces as well as three loading bays adjacent to the store, meaning the reduction of 60 parking spaces.
The click and collect area will be connected to a small customer-facing reception, where customers who have placed an order and paid online will then collect the order without having to go into the shop.
The customer service office (Image: SRA Architects Ltd)
They will be given a time slot to make sure the order is ready when they arrive.
Ikea said having a facility like this will bring more jobs to the area and will make the shopping experience easier for customers who want to shop online.
Included in the plans is the replacement of the existing outdated equipment plant on the car park roof with new and more efficient equipment to meet Ikea’s requirements for the store operations.
The application received one comment of objection due to traffic fears and difficulty in finding a parking space.
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The comment reads: “The car park is already a nightmare to find a space in at peak times, particularly school holidays and December, and when one level was recently closed due to weather it proved how squeezed it was for people who park there regularly.
“Cannon Place also regularly gets congested when there’s work being done and this would no doubt make it worse.”
SRA Architects Ltd on behalf of Ikea said: “Ikea is committed to providing the best possible service for its customers, through constant review and iteration of its offerings in response to changing market trends and shopping habits.
“As part of that service and ongoing commitment to the south-east, Ikea is proposing a dedicated click and collect facility within the Churchill Square Shopping Centre.
“The facility will further enhance the retailer’s offering on the site, which will complement the small-format Ikea Store on the upper floors.”