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.
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Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. said the proposal by the Canadian convenience store operator “grossly undervalues” the company.
In a letter to Couche-Tard, Seven & i called its offer of US$14.86 per share in cash “opportunistically timed” and said the proposal was not in the best interest of its shareholders and other stakeholders.
“We are open to engaging in sincere discussions should you put forth a proposal that fully recognizes our stand-alone intrinsic value and addresses our concerns regarding certainty of closing in the current regulatory environment,” wrote Stephen Dacus, chair of the special committee formed to review the offer.
“However, we do not believe, for several critical reasons, that the proposal you have put forward provides a basis for us to engage in substantive discussions regarding a potential transaction.”
The Japanese company said the Couche-Tard bid did not adequately acknowledge the multiple and significant challenges such a transaction would face from U.S. competition regulators.
In addition to global convenience store chain 7-Eleven, Seven & i owns supermarkets, food producers, household goods retailers and financial services companies.
On Thursday, before Seven & i published its rejection, Couche-Tard said it was confident in its ability to finance and complete the proposed deal.
Analysts have cast doubt on whether the two companies can reach a deal because they believe satisfying Japanese regulators will be onerous and could force Couche-Tard to let go of some of its assets.
Couche-Tard has operations across 31 countries and more than 16,800 stores. If it manages to wrangle Seven & i, that deal would add 85,800 stores to its empire.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
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