Ikea to open largest Asia store

Swedish home retailer Ikea will open a second store in the business district of Daxing in Beijing.

With an area of 300,000sqm, it will be Ikea’s largest store in Asia.

Ikea entered China in 1998 when it opened a store in Shanghai and it now has seven stores nationwide.

Ikea’s current store in Beijing is second largest store in the world, after its flagship in Stockholm.

The retailer also plans to open stores in Shenyang and another in Shanghai within one to two years.

“We plan to open more stores in more cities in China,” said Linda Xu, Ikea’s public relations manager.

According to Ian Duffy, Ikea’s president for Asia Pacific, the second Beijing store will focus on introducing the Ikea concept and making products more familiar among consumers.

“It takes time to make the market really understand the Ikea concept. We feel that from the showroom in China, the customer can recognise ‘their home’ in an Ikea store and that is the adaptation we did for the Chinese customer. It was getting the consumers to see Ikea products in the Chinese home,” Xu said.

Ikea was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad. It currently operates in 36 countries worldwide.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.