Kitchen‑planning studios inside 10 Best Buy stores in Florida and Texas mark a faster, lighter way to reach U.S. shoppers as the retailer rethinks growth in crowded markets.

IKEA is taking a page from the playbooks of America’s biggest big-box chains—and from its own recent experiments—to put its brand where customers already shop. Beginning this fall, the world’s largest furniture retailer will open IKEA-branded kitchen planning studios inside 10 Best Buy stores across Florida and Texas. The compact spaces, about 1,000 square feet each, are designed to let shoppers plan and order kitchens and laundry spaces without trekking to one of IKEA’s massive suburban warehouses. It is the company’s first U.S. shop‑in‑shop collaboration and part of a broader push to grow in what its leaders call “mature” markets—places where IKEA is well known but still underpenetrated geographically.

Under the pilot, IKEA co‑workers will staff the in‑store studios to help customers design layouts, select cabinetry, countertops and storage, and place orders for delivery or pickup. Best Buy associates, meanwhile, will advise on major appliances, linking refrigerators, ranges and washers into the same conversation as drawer organizers and worktops. The idea is to knit together two complementary strengths: IKEA’s low‑cost, modular furniture systems and Best Buy’s depth in appliances and connected‑home technology. No flat‑pack boxes will leave with shoppers the same day, but the promise is speed and convenience: a one‑stop consult in a store that may already be part of the weekly errand run.

The locations underscore that strategy. Best Buy has named five Florida stores—Boynton Beach, Daytona Beach, Lakeland, Melbourne and Orlando’s Waterford Lakes—and five in Texas—Alamo Ranch (San Antonio), Hulen (Fort Worth), Humble (Houston), Mesquite (Dallas area) and South Austin. Two of them, Lakeland and Alamo Ranch, will also serve as free pickup points for most IKEA U.S. orders, a way to reduce last‑mile friction for customers who live far from an IKEA store. The initiative is slated to launch later this year, in time for the holiday‑and‑home‑refresh season.

For IKEA, owned by Ingka Group, the Best Buy pilot extends a years‑long rethink of its retail footprint. The company has been trialing smaller formats—city‑center planning studios, neighborhood‑scale stores and pickup points—in an effort to reach more people closer to where they live. That reconfiguration accelerated as online ordering, home delivery and assembly services grew into what was once a strictly do‑it‑yourself journey. Executives say the goal is not to abandon the blue‑and‑yellow maze that made IKEA famous, but to layer flexible, faster‑to‑open formats on top of it.

“We need to be present where the many people are,” is how IKEA leaders have framed the shift in recent media interviews, arguing that borrowing floor space inside established retailers can be a quicker route to new catchment areas than securing land, permits and traffic patterns for a traditional warehouse. In mature markets like the U.S. and Western Europe—where the brand is ubiquitous but a long drive from millions of households—shop‑in‑shop partnerships are one lever to grow share without waiting years for a full store to open.

There is precedent for the model. Beauty chains have fueled growth through mini‑shops inside mass retailers; consumer‑electronics and gaming brands have maintained corners within big boxes for years. IKEA’s twist is to treat a complex, high‑consideration purchase—kitchens—as the anchor. Kitchens are where IKEA’s value proposition is strongest: modular designs, predictable pricing and a wide ecosystem of parts and services. They are also where Best Buy’s appliance assortment and delivery network can pull its weight. Marrying the two gives each retailer a new reason to attract footfall at a moment when discretionary spending is uneven.

The move arrives amid stiffer competition across all things home. Mass merchants have sharpened private‑label furniture; pure‑play e‑commerce rivals have chipped away with fast shipping and free returns; and regional players still dominate kitchens and bath. IKEA’s counter is to make the brand more locally convenient while keeping total project costs low. By installing 1,000‑square‑foot studios rather than building new stores, IKEA can be up and running in months, not years—and test, learn and redeploy with less capital at risk.

Tolga Öncü, head of IKEA Retail at Ingka Group, has signaled that third‑party floor space could become a repeatable tactic in mature markets if the customer response proves strong. The company’s broader ambition is to expand its share of the global home‑furnishings market from roughly six percent by removing pain points that keep would‑be shoppers away—distance, delivery costs and design complexity among them.

On the ground, the Best Buy build‑outs will present curated kitchen and laundry vignettes—think run‑of‑cabinets, worktops, sinks, pantry towers and wardrobe‑style storage—staged with compatible appliances. Customers can sit down for design consultations, build a basket, and schedule delivery. IKEA co‑workers will guide product selection and services such as measurement, installation and financing; Best Buy staff will field questions on energy efficiency, smart‑home compatibility and installation requirements. Orders placed in store will flow through IKEA’s logistics network, with the two pickup‑hub locations offering an added option for nearby residents.

The pilot will be closely watched for what it says about the future of big‑box retail. One scenario is that IKEA uses other retailers’ space as a flexible bridge into white‑space neighborhoods—opening, for example, a kitchen studio where there is no IKEA within an hour’s drive and later following with a smaller full‑line store if demand warrants. Another is that IKEA scales a network of micro‑footprints that permanently complement its regional flagships. In either case, the task will be to preserve the brand’s famously hands‑on experience while moving more of the journey to quick consults and doorstep delivery.

There are risks. Staffing two brands under one roof adds operational complexity and could blur accountability when something goes wrong. Margins on services and delivery matter more as fewer customers self‑transport. And IKEA must ensure that small footprints do not undersell the breadth of its offer, particularly for shoppers who discover the brand through these spaces rather than a full store. But the counter‑argument is persuasive: kitchen projects start with inspiration and planning, not carting boxes. If IKEA can capture that moment—where measurements and appliance choices drive everything else—the rest of the order has a way of following.

For Best Buy, the upside is incremental traffic from customers undertaking larger home projects and a clearer line between appliance purchases and the spaces they live in. The partnership also plays to the retailer’s strengths in service, delivery and installation. As home budgets tilt back toward necessities and upgrades that promise energy savings, giving shoppers a tangible vision for a renovated kitchen—or a laundry room that actually fits—could prove to be the right conversation at the right time.

Zooming out, IKEA has been pragmatic about channel strategy by country. In China, for example, the group is testing third‑party e‑commerce marketplaces such as Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com to reach digital‑first customers. By contrast, in Europe and the U.S. it has resisted relying on external marketplaces and instead focused on owned stores, web and app. The Best Buy pilot suggests that while IKEA may not outsource its core online storefront in the West, it is newly open to meeting customers in other retailers’ aisles when it makes sense.

If the 10‑store trial resonates, expect iterations—more pickup points, adjacent categories such as closets and bath, and perhaps partnerships beyond consumer electronics. Either way, the message is clear: in mature markets, growth will come not only from building new blue boxes but from embedding IKEA’s planning‑led proposition inside the shopping trips people already make.

Sources

– Best Buy Corporate (July 31, 2025): Best Buy and IKEA U.S. partner to pilot new kitchen and storage planning services in select Best Buy stores.

– IKEA U.S. Newsroom (July 31–Aug. 1, 2025): Best Buy and IKEA U.S. partner to pilot new kitchen and storage planning services in select Best Buy stores.

– Financial Times (Sept. 9, 2025): ‘Ikea explores using other retailers’ floor space to expand in “mature” markets.’

– Local coverage confirming store list and timing: Dallas Innovates (Aug. 2, 2025); ClickOrlando (Aug. 5, 2025).