Ikea inaugurates its first Pet Shop

The experiment is made at home, that is at the ELNÒS Shopping mall in Roncadelle (near Brescia), where Ikea opened its first Pet shop in Italy on March 1st.

32 square metres of dedicated space within the mall; 32 square meters of “ideas for your four-legged friends” where you can see Ikea’s LURVIG range of products, which is based on the five behaviours that our four-legged friends have in common: sleep, eat, play, run and stay close to us.

A collection designed to be combined with some Ikea classics, for example the kennel for cats matches perfectly with the Kallax bookcase while the sofa kennel is a scaled-down version of a standard couch. The mat, easy to fit thanks to sewn-in belts, turns a table leg in a scratching post.

Launched in 2017, the LURVIG range was designed by Imma Bermudéz and a team of animal lovers, with the support of veterinarians led by Barbara Schäfer, who is also involved in the risk assessment procedures for the products of the Swedish company.

“In many homes, dogs and cats are now an established presence that rightfully belongs to our families,” says Alessandro Gallavotti, IKEA Brescia Store Manager “with this new thematic area, Ikea wants to be closer and attentive to the needs of people and their pets.”

An idea welcomed by Giovanni Umberto Marzini, Director of ELNÒS Shopping who said: “we are enthusiast to add a new line to the offer of our mall, pet friendly as ever.”

After the launch of March 1st with a photo shooting set for customers taking photographs together with their own pets, Ikea has planned other support initiatives throughout March, at the ELNÒS shop:

• Saturday 9 March and Sunday 10 March and the subsequent weekend, the stands of canine associations;
• Saturday 23 March and Sunday 24 March, free courses with a canine educator and a series of video tutorials that are helpful in educating one’s own dog.

Today there are almost 60 million pets in Italy belonging to their families and with a clearly defined role in our society.