New collaboration brings touch of Black Country history to IKEA superstore

The new room at the IKEA Birmingham store in Wednesbury has a room set inspired by the Museum’s historic menswear shop, H. Morrall’s Gentlemen’s Outfitters, which showcases the PAX and KOMPLEMENT ranges and transports customers back to the elegance and style of the 1920s and 1930s.

The ribbon was officially cut by interior designer Sanjana Choudhary in front of colleagues from the store, as well as Black Country Living Museum head of audiences and communications Claire Packer, as part of the grand opening.

Located near the bedding section of the store, the room is set in the style of a 1930s haberdashery store, with a selection of suits, flat caps, shoes and other menswear on show on the PAX and KOMPLEMENT ranges.

Other items on show add an air of authenticity to the store, such as a phone, hats, a clock and some old-fashioned lights, as well as an explainer on the front table about the store and its history in Dudley. 

Harry Morrall’s shop was originally a familiar sight on Hall Street in Dudley, where he traded from 1928 to 1935, and the shop is set in 1935, when it would have stocked men’s clothing such as shirts, collars, cufflinks, collar studs, hats, ties, socks and possibly underwear. 

The new room had taken two months from conception to creation and store sales manager Sophie Hale said the collaboration had been about celebrating local heritage, as well as showcasing new home item ideas to customers.

She said: "We really wanted to showcase our PAX and KOMPLEMENT ranges and show our customers about how they can have a better life at home through our range and have better solutions.

"We also wanted to give that nod to our local heritage, which is the Black Country Living Museum.

"It's been a complete showstopper as customers have literally stopped in their tracks when they come and they are wowed by it and can see some great solutions for their home, as well as have a greater awareness of the Black Country Living Museum."

Sanjana Choudhary said the idea had been to bring in local history from the museum and said she had been inspired by H. Morrall’s store, saying it really stood out to her.

She said: "H. Morrall’s Gentlemen’s Outfitters is a striking building and really enhanced our ideas. 

"When we visited the Museum during our creative process, we saw real synergy between our products and the mood we wanted to create.”

Claire Packer said the museum was really delighted to collaborate with IKEA and said the final result had been wonderful to see.

She said: "As soon as I came into the store and looked up, I was just blown away.

"The attention to detail is incredible and the whole team have been so great to work with, really enthusiastic and proud to be part of this region, which I think we all are.

"It's a really exciting kind of opportunity for retail, heritage and design to all come together, so we'll see how it goes from there and there could possibly be more collaborations in the future."