Swedish giant IKEA comes to India, set to open doors in Hyderabad tomorrow

Hyderabad: With its first store in India set to open tomorrow in Hyderabad, Swedish home furnishings major IKEA on Tuesday said it is looking to expand here at a faster pace as compared to elsewhere.

The company which is looking to set up 25 stores in India by 2025 will also enter the e-commerce segment by next year, besides exploring small format stores as part of expansion plans in the country.

IKEA had originally planned to open the first store in 2017. However, it was delayed and was scheduled for July 19 this year. The company again pushed it back to August 9 citing quality commitments.

"We want to be accessible and from tomorrow we will be accessible in Hyderabad. Now we will try our best to speed up our expansion to move quicker than normally we do in IKEA," IKEA Group CEO Jesper Brodin said here.

After Hyderabad, IKEA's second store would be in Mumbai next year followed by Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR. The company's first store in India comes more than five years after it received the government's nod for its Rs 10,500 crore investment in the country in single-brand retail.

Out of the total outlay of Rs 10,500 crore, the company has so far invested Rs 4,500 crore on different projects.

It has invested Rs 1,000 crore on the Hyderabad store alone, which would have a range of around 7,500 products. The store is spread over 13 acres and has a built-up area of 4 lakh sq ft.

Bullish on the Indian market, IKEA India CEO Peter Betzel said the country's population, demographic dividend and fast-growing economy offered a big potential.

He said the company would also have an online channel for its customers and set up small format stores within cities in order to provide IKEA experience.

Betzel said India will be one of the most important future markets for IKEA in terms of supply, customers and making a positive impact on society.