Ikea opens first Indian store in Hyderabad
10 Aug 2018
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Swedish retail major Ikea opened its first store in India on Thursday, drawing tens of thousands of curious visitors, resulting in massive traffic snarls in Hyderabad.
According to Ikea sources, more than 40,000 visitors were present at the time of the inauguration. The Ikea store is located in Hitec City, the hub of information technology companies.
The Swedish major invested Rs1,000 crore for setting up the 400,000 sq ft store, one of its largest. The new outlet will sell more than 7,500 products, including a thousand priced below Rs200.
Ikea had got the government’s approval about five years ago to invest more than Rs10,000 crore in opening 25 stores by 2025. However, the plan has been revised now and it aims to set up 40 stores.
New stores are to be opened in Navi Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata.
The company operates more than 300 stores in over three-dozen countries around the globe. With slackening growth in established markets including Europe and North America, it is now aiming to expand its network in Asia and South Amreica.
Jesper Brodin, group chief executive, Ikea, told the media that India would emerge as one of its biggest sourcing markets. The Swedish firm sources most of its products from China, Poland and. It is committed to procure 30 per cent of products sold in India domestically.
