Malls Arm Of IKEA Plans First India Site In Noida
IKEA plans to open its first shopping centre in India after the Swedish furniture giant's shopping centres business — one of the world's largest — said it had bought a 48,000-square-metre plot in Noida.
IKEA, which opened its first store in India in 2018 in Hyderabad followed by one in Mumbai in 2020, said it would develop the new site into a mall anchored by an IKEA store.
Ingka Centres, which has 45 IKEA store-anchored malls across Europe, Russia and China and plans to enter the United States in 2021, said it planned to invest nearly Rs 5,500 crore ($759 million) in the Noida project.
It will announce more detailed plans for the project soon, it said in an emailed statement.
Ingka Centres plans to enter around 45 large cities across its existing markets and the United States over the coming years.
It said in October visitors had returned quickly to its malls after the lifting of Covid-19 related restrictions that had forced stores and malls to close.
Ingka Centres is owned by Ingka Group which also owns most IKEA stores worldwide.
IKEA's shopping malls business, one of the world's biggest, said its expansion plans remained on track with visitors quickly returning to its premises after the lifting of coronavirus-related lockdowns which had forced stores to close.
The furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories retailer has, so far, invested Rs7,000 crore in the country opening two stores and several fulfilment centres.
The 5.3 lakh sq feet Mumbai store offers the largest shopping section for children that the retailer has in the world — drawing from its success that the category saw at its first store in Hyderabad launched in 2018. The Mumbai, store, over two floors, has a 1,000-seater restaurant serving both Indian and Swedish cuisines.
Ingka Centres, which has 45 malls anchored by IKEA stores across Europe, Russia and China and plans to enter the United States in 2021, said footfall in the 12 months through August had fallen by almost a quarter and tenant sales had dropped 16 per cent to Є 5.4 billion.
