Ikea is to open a new customer distribution centre in Dublin, creating 120 new jobs.
The large warehouse and related facilities are located at Greenogue Logistics Park in the west of the city.
The development will mean that customers of the Swedish furniture and home accessories retail giant should see their order delivery times cut by more than half and increase availability.
Until now, goods being delivered in Ireland were supplied from distribution centres in the UK or Belgium.
The move should also reduce CO2 emissions from the 300,000 deliveries a year that will be dispatched from there.
"And what this means is that we can actually hold goods here in this customer distribution centre and supply them directly into customers' homes," said Marsha Smith, Country Deputy Retail Manager, UK and Ireland for Ikea.
"In Ireland, it means much shorter lead times and is a much more efficient way for us to supply our customers."
"So today, if you place an order online, it can be around about six days, sometimes a little bit longer.
"But I think having the provision of holding the stock here in Ireland, it means that when you go online and you place an order as a customer, we can get those goods to you within two or three days."
Ms Smith denied that the move was a direct response to Brexit and the red tape that has brought, but acknowledged that it may make the operation more efficient, saving money which can then be passed on to customers through lower prices.
"We started with the large store in Ballymun and that's been so successful for us, continues to be successful," she said.
"And now we're looking into other types of formats and I think there's long been a wish to expand in Ireland. We just needed to do it in a really good way and this is really part of the long-term commitment to future expansion."
The company has seen its online sales grow rapidly since it launched its website here in 2018 and last year around 27% of its sales in Ireland were conducted online.
Recently Ikea opened a new "Plan & Order Point" in Drogheda, following the opening of similar outlets in Naas and St Stephen’s Green in Dublin last year.
Another is to open in Cork later this year, as well as one in Portlaoise.
Ms Smith said she would love to see another full store, similar to Ballymun, open in Ireland and hinted one may be on the way.
"For me it's a dream that we would do that and I think we would, you know, really love to see more stores in a similar vein to Ballymun, because obviously it's been hugely successful," she said.
"We really sort of take our time, we do a lot of research. We're really looking to where is the right location."
"I think when we, you know when we commit, we commit for the long term. So with that comes an awful lot of research into what could be that next location."
"So it absolutely is as I say, it's a dream, and it's one that we're working hard on and and when we have something to share, then we definitely will. I'll be very excited when that day comes."
Regarding prices, Ms Smith said the company is working hard to keep them at current levels, despite rising material and other costs, or bring them down.
"It's not a situation that we want to be in where those material price increases kind of force us to higher our prices," she said.
"But ultimately, we stay very close to the market we. Really, pride ourselves on being very competitive and you know, we know that people have a lot less money in their wallet."
Ikea has purchased the entire Greenogue Logistics Park from Palm Logistics for the new distribution centre, the first time that Ikea's parent Ingka Group has invested in logistics.
Previously the company has leased facilities is uses for logistics and distribution.
The warehouse is to be fitted out over the coming weeks and first deliveries from it are expected early next year.
The new building is A2 rated and has solar panels and rainwater harvesting.
IKEA had total sales in Ireland of €216.7 million for the year ending last August, up 14% compared to the previous 12 months.
- additional reporting Gill Stedman
