IKEA Calcot to open next year

Store confirms it will open its doors in Summer 2016

NEXT year will see the long-awaited opening of IKEA in Calcot.

The Swedish furniture store has confirmed that the store, to be built at the Berkshire Retail Park close to junction 12 of the M4, will open in summer 2016.

Store manager Johanna Heuren said: "The exciting plans for IKEA Reading see the redevelopment of the derelict Pincents Lane site to provide a brand new, modern IKEA store that offers a range of high quality, competitively priced products and a fantastic shopping experience.

"We hope to open the new store to in Summer 2016.

She said that the construction managers RG Group had been on-site preparing for store.

Residents in Calcot, Tilehurst and Theale have expressed concerns over the amount of traffic that will visit the store.

IKEA will be contributing around £5m in developer's contributions to try and mitigate the impact of the store on local roads. J Breheny Contractors have been appointed to manage and deliver the works on IKEA’s behalf.

Planning permission was granted in 2012 for a 40,000 sq m store over three floors, a 1,179 space multi-storey car park, cafe, creche facilities and a bus interchange area.

Last year the store applied to reduce the size of the store to two levels instead of three, reduce the height by eight metres, and have a footprint of 32,000sqm.