Founded in Sweden in 1943, IKEA is a European multinational group that designs and sells ready-to-assemble
furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories. It can be seen as the
world’s biggest furniture retailer. While its good can be found in several
European countries, this was not the case in the UK, until now.
The company is getting into the British market. The shopping
centre business is investing 170 million pounds ($222 million) into a London
mall. It is going to purchase it from Schroder
UK Real Estate Fund and upgrade the arcade as part of its first venture into
the British market. An arm of the firm has advanced that it would put a new
format IKEA store at the heart of the 27,000-square-meter Kings Mall in
London’s Hammersmith district.
Some might find this surprising as the current physical
retail market is struggling. Many stores are closing down because people are
choosing to purchase from online shopping services. The CEO of Ingka Centres
Gerard Groener advanced, “We believe we can upgrade assets in good locations
and Kings Mall is a great example of this”. He further stated that modern
physical retail, which must be a mix of digitalisation and sustainability,
needs to be built around the local community. As such, after establishing the IKEA
store, they intend to win over the UK with their e-commerce business.
An IKEA store will open in London
Comments
Post a Comment