Ikea’s first Indian store to open in Hyd in 2017

Swedish home furnishing major Ikea has stepped on the gas as it prepares to open its first store in India at Hyderabad in the second half of 2017.

The company, which received government approval in 2013 for its Rs 10,500 crore proposal to open retail stores under 100 per cent FDI, is also looking for more sites in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru s part of its plans to open 25 stores by 2025 in nine Indian cities.

"We will open our first store in Hyderabad in later half of 2017. Digging for construction of our first store in India started this week," Ikea Asia Pacific Retail President Mikael Palmquist told PTI.

Ikea's first store in Hyderabad will be a massive 4 lakh square feet in size and will include all features of a global Ikea store, including restaurant and play and development area, he added.

Palmquist said Ikea expects its stores in the country to be among "the most visited stores in the world" and hence the company has prepared for it by planning bigger restaurants and more seating capacity to suit high visitation stores.

"After Hyderabad, in the first phase of growth, we plan to open stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. We are searching for land in these cities. We want to open more than one stores in locations where our stores come up," the Ikea boss said.

The company said that it will showcase its products from its global portfolio in India based on the taste and requirements of the regions where its stores are located.

Palmquist said compared to China where it has been there for 15 years and opening at a rate of 3 stores a year only now, Ikea will be looking at a much faster growth in India.

"In India I want us to be there earlier, within five years, we should have capability to open three stores a year to hit the 25 (stores)," he added.