Bengaluru: People of Bangalore no longer need to go to Mumbai or Hyderabad Ikea, The Swedish home furnishing company on Tuesday inaugurated its trademark ‘Blue Box’ store here.
Ikea is known around the world for their maze-like store layout, which is specially designed to have predetermined paths highlighting a wide variety of products designed to groom shepherds. Often the day’s shopping experiences are usually accompanied by an obligatory Swedish meatball dish at their restaurant. Strategy is the stuff of retail legend.
new shop nagasandraBengaluru, involving an investment of Rs 3,000 crore, is spread over 460,000 sq ft and has over 7,000 home furnishing products available. it’s also the biggest Ikea Store in India. Buyers can sometimes expect to feel like they are walking through someone’s living room or kitchen, that’s because all Ikea stores have room set-ups – carefully designed bedrooms, bathrooms , lounge area and kitchen of all types. There are more than 65 such rooms in the Bangalore store to spark home decor ideas. The store also has an extensive children’s play area, called ‘Smaland’, as well as a restaurant and bistro that serves a mix of Swedish and Indian cuisine.
Ikea India CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer Susan Pulvarer, who was in Bengaluru for the store opening, told TOI that India is a big market for the company and they plan to open new stores in India. “At the moment we are focusing on three markets where we have opened our stores – Hyderabad, Mumbai and now Bengaluru – but we are preparing to launch in Delhi as well.” The furniture retailer expects around 5 million buyers at its Bengaluru store this year. The company employs 1,000 employees; About 72% of them are local. Pulverer said that 27% of the home furnishing products they sell in India are locally sourced and they plan to increase this number to 50% over time.
Ikea sells its products online in select cities in India. Pulverer said this is because they don’t want to compromise on the customer experience. “We want to provide the right service and support when one buys and plans for their home. We know we are at our best when shoppers can see, experience, draw inspiration from our store and then maybe shop online.”
Ikea is known around the world for their maze-like store layout, which is specially designed to have predetermined paths highlighting a wide variety of products designed to groom shepherds. Often the day’s shopping experiences are usually accompanied by an obligatory Swedish meatball dish at their restaurant. Strategy is the stuff of retail legend.
new shop nagasandraBengaluru, involving an investment of Rs 3,000 crore, is spread over 460,000 sq ft and has over 7,000 home furnishing products available. it’s also the biggest Ikea Store in India. Buyers can sometimes expect to feel like they are walking through someone’s living room or kitchen, that’s because all Ikea stores have room set-ups – carefully designed bedrooms, bathrooms , lounge area and kitchen of all types. There are more than 65 such rooms in the Bangalore store to spark home decor ideas. The store also has an extensive children’s play area, called ‘Smaland’, as well as a restaurant and bistro that serves a mix of Swedish and Indian cuisine.
Ikea India CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer Susan Pulvarer, who was in Bengaluru for the store opening, told TOI that India is a big market for the company and they plan to open new stores in India. “At the moment we are focusing on three markets where we have opened our stores – Hyderabad, Mumbai and now Bengaluru – but we are preparing to launch in Delhi as well.” The furniture retailer expects around 5 million buyers at its Bengaluru store this year. The company employs 1,000 employees; About 72% of them are local. Pulverer said that 27% of the home furnishing products they sell in India are locally sourced and they plan to increase this number to 50% over time.
Ikea sells its products online in select cities in India. Pulverer said this is because they don’t want to compromise on the customer experience. “We want to provide the right service and support when one buys and plans for their home. We know we are at our best when shoppers can see, experience, draw inspiration from our store and then maybe shop online.”