Amid a cost-of-living crisis, Ikea Canada says it has lowered its prices for hundreds of items this past month as part of the company’s continuing push to make home furnishing more affordable.
The move comes amid continued scrutiny of price increases over recent years for consumers — often centring around grocery and food prices — and as polling done earlier this year for Global News showed that affordability remains Canadians’ top concern.
The home furnishing retailer said in a news release Wednesday that it reduced prices for another 800 products in April.
Selwyn Crittendon, CEO and chief sustainability officer at Ikea Canada, said the retailer is “continuously hearing about nearly half of Canadian households facing financial challenges and the constant pressure to make ends meet.”
“IKEA Canada’s commitment to affordability is a promise to our customers – it’s about siding with the many Canadians during challenging financial times, and our promise to live up to our vision of creating a better everyday life at home by taking price reductions on the products Canadians value and need the most,” Crittendon said.
Ikea products that saw new price reductions in April include the Kallax bookshelf series, the Malm bedframe, the Nämmarö outdoor furniture series and several items from home textiles, cookware and lighting, the retailer said.
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Other products that have seen prices lowered are the Nymane flood lamp from $64.99 to 49.99, the Hållbar bin with lid from $17.99 to $14.99 and the Millberget swivel chair from $329 to $179.
This comes as the overall price of household furnishings and equipment dipped 0.3 per cent year over year last month, according to Statistics Canada’s latest inflation report released last week.
The annual price of household appliances went down by 3.8 per cent in March, and the price of non-electric kitchen utensils, tableware and cookware dipped 11.6 per cent year over year, StatCan data showed.
However, annual furniture prices were up 0.5 per cent in March.
Overall, Canada’s annual inflation rate rose slightly last month, accelerated largely by higher gas prices.
Late last year, U.S. President Joe Biden took aim at companies that haven’t lowered prices for consumers as inflation stabilized and supply chain disruptions eased, accusing them of “price gouging.”
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