IKEA is saying “hej” to Scarborough with a billboard campaign marking the opening of its new small-format store in the Scarborough Town Centre.

Developed by Rethink in partnership with the photography team of Suech and Beck (Chris Sue-Chu and Alyssa Wodabek), the campaign features IKEA products alongside specific references to Scarborough landmarks such as the Bluffs and Rouge Park.

One ad featuring the Vågsjön bath towel is headlined “Never get caught in the Bluffs again,” while another featuring a red Svartpoppel cushion cover reads “Yellow and blue, meet Rouge Park.”

“We see Scarborough’s unique culture, diversity, and ways of bringing home to life” said Alicia Carroll, IKEA’s country commercial activity leader. “We are not just announcing a new IKEA, we are celebrating a community and joining the people, places, and culture that make Scarborough a home.”

The campaign is housed under the brand’s one-year-old platform “Bring Home to Life,” which shows how the home goods retailer can help people transform the spaces that matter most to them.

Located in the Scarborough Town Centre, the retailer’s new small-format store is 7,400 square metres (roughly one-quarter the size of one of its typical big-box locations) and features a product assortment that caters to city dwellers.

It features 2,500 cash-and-carry products, with larger furniture items on display and available to order for home delivery or pick-up. The Scarborough store is IKEA’s 16th in Canada, and it’s second small-format store after opening a downtown Toronto location last year.

That opening was accompanied by a campaign from Rethink called “Window Shopping,” which turned Toronto homes into “showrooms,” with products including sofas, coffee tables, and window coverings visible in the windows.

The media buy was handled by Carat.