IKEA Hyderabad store to be ready by early 2018

Hyderabad: The Swedish home furnishings company, IKEA, founded by Ingvar Kamprad, is beginning its journey in India by launching its first store in Hyderabad, expecting to begin operations by early 2018. The Rs 1,000-crore store is going to provide employment for over 1,050 people (including 120 part-time resources). The company is also committing itself to 30 per cent local sourcing of all the material it would use in future.

Patrik Antoni, deputy country manager, IKEA India told Telangana Today, “We will have a range of 9,500 products in the price range of Rs 40 to over a lakh worth of products. The Hyderabad store will come up in 13 acres. The city has huge potential for our stores and we will add one more store in the future.”

The five-storey Hyderabad outlet will house a 1,000-seater restaurant serving Indian and Swedish food, which will be the largest across its properties worldwide.

The company is opening an interactive experience centre at Forum Mall this November. It will be a space for introducing the brand and its Swedish roots along with providing inspirations to its future customers with its home furnishing solutions.

IKEA will follow a multi-channel strategy with an eye on boosting online sales parallel to the offline presence.

National plans

IKEA is also coming out with stores in Navi Mumbai and Bengaluru. The



company has obtained environment clearance in Navi Mumbai and is in the process of acquiring the clearance in Bengaluru. Excavation works will begin soon in Navi Mumbai with construction expected to begin by the end of the year.

He said, “We have acquired 23 acres in Navi Mumbai and about 10 acres in Bengaluru. We plan to have nine stores by 2025. Cities like Delhi can have at least five stores as there are adjoining States connecting the city.”

There are plans to set up stores in Delhi/ national capital region (NCR), Chennai, Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. In total there will be nine stores by 2025 in the country.

IKEA has tied up with 53 suppliers across India, including two from Telangana, for its raw material. The company is exploring options to procure bamboo, jute and water hyacinth for making different products. It has tied up with a bamboo supplier from Karnataka already.

“IKEA is in talks with suppliers from Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka to source for stores located in respective State capitals. We are taking all the care in identifying right suppliers for all raw material. For instance, if we are procuring wood, we would like to know how the plantation is done,” Patrik Antoni said.

The company is setting up a warehouse and distribution centre in Pune, which will be ready by December, this year.