Ikea plans to open two smaller stores in the financial capital by the end of next year.
Mumbai:
Hundreds of masked shoppers braved fears of a pandemic to visit Ikea’s second Indian store, which opened on Friday, as the Swedish giant tries to appeal to the country’s burgeoning middle class with a minimalist design and a dash of local masala.
The company is betting big on the vast but complex market of 1.3 billion people, mixing Swedish functionality with locally sourced Indian products.
His latest store, on the outskirts of Mumbai, comes two years after the opening of his first store in Hyderabad, but amid rapidly changing circumstances with social distancing rules requiring customers to register in advance before visiting.
With an area equivalent to 10 football fields, the new flagship houses a restaurant with capacity for 1,000 people, as well as the largest children’s section of any Ikea store worldwide and can accommodate up to 10,000 people.
However, for the foreseeable future, only about 2,500 customers will be allowed to visit each day.
“It has exceeded our expectations,” the store’s deputy manager, Preeti Budhraja, told AFP, saying that the customer spaces for the next two weeks were already taken.
The canteen serves Ikea signature meatballs, but without beef or pork in deference to local religious practice, as well as local favorites like biryani.
With coronavirus cases approaching 10 million in India, but with economic activity returning to normal, Ikea plans to open two smaller stores in the financial capital by the end of next year.
“This is not a sprint … it is a marathon,” Budhraja said.
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