When Ikea executives ponder changes to the restaurants within their sprawling furniture stores, they think about an imaginary customer they’ve dubbed Sarah. Sarah is the average Ikea diner: She’s in her 30s, gets a moderate amount of exercise, eats three meals and two snacks a day.
And when legions of Sarahs set foot in Ikea’s restaurants this spring, they will be sitting in a redesigned setting and eating off a recently refreshed menu that Ikea hopes will help it unlock more sales from its dining business.
While for decades it has been part of the Ikea experience to get your new couch with a side of Swedish meatballs, Ikea’s U.S. president Lars Petersson said in an interview that “Ikea food is becoming a core business” for the privately held, Sweden-based company.
In the most recent fiscal year, the food division — which also includes sales of take-home, packaged food items such as chocolates, jams and sauces — saw sales surge 8 percent in the U.S. over the previous year, outpacing the 4.5 percent sales growth seen at its U.S. stores open more than a year. Foot traffic to Ikea’s restaurants is also “trending better” than foot traffic to the furnishings areas of their stores, according to Peter Ho, a product developer in Ikea’s food division.
