Ikea will open five to six stores in Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR) over the coming years, company said without sharing further details.
The Swedish home furnishings firm acquired its first 10-acre land parcel in Gurugram from Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).
Juvencio Maeztu, chief executive officer, Ikea India, said in a release that Delhi-NCR is a highly strategic and important market for Ikea and will be one of its biggest markets in India. "Along with retail stores, we will also focus on growing local sourcing and engage with local artisans and communities in many projects. Ikea promises to bring a unique global shopping experience through our inspiring stores offering good quality affordable home furnishing products for the many people," he said.
Strategically located in Sector 47, Gurugram, the company will open a store spread across four lakh square feet offering over 9,500 articles. It will also have 1,000 parking lots, children's play area and a 1,000-seater restaurant offering Indian and Swedish delicacies. The store, when launched, will facilitate job creation of 800 direct coworkers, out of which 50% will be women and 1,500 indirectly employed for services in each store.
The Gurugram land parcel is Ikea's fourth store site in India after Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Ikea will open its first Indian store in Hyderabad early next year, followed by Mumbai in early 2019 and subsequently in Bangaluru and Gurugram.
Parallely, Ikea is evaluating more suitable sites in the cities of Bangaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, NCR and Chennai and plans to open 25 stores in India by 2025. The company is looking to grow the Indian manufacturing landscape by maximising local sourcing from India and exploring sustainable indigenous materials such as bamboo, jute and wood, thus adding to the global product range.
Ikea has been sourcing from India for over 30 years for its global stores. In India, it currently has 50 suppliers with 45,000 direct employees and 400,000 people in the extended supply chain.
HOUSE IN ORDER
- Ikea has acquired its first 10-acre parcel in Gurugram
- The Gurugram store would be spread across four lakh square feet
- It will have 1,000 parking lots and a 1000-seater restaurant
