Ingka Centres, which operates under Ingka Group, the retail operational arm of Ikea, has announced its plan to add a new meeting place or Ikea store in Noida. It will be the second meeting place after the one under construction at Gurugram for an investment of €400 million or Rs.3500 crores. The company plans to invest €500 million to set up an Ikea store in Noida under the new meeting place project and will likely decide in the next six months. The main construction of the Gurugram meeting place project started on Tuesday, August 16, and the storage area will cover 250,000 square feet. It has been four years since the opening of Ikea first store in India in Hyderabad in 2018, followed by a big and small store in Mumbai and another one in Bangalore in the subsequent years.
Spreading the Footprints of Ikea Store in Noida
Since starting the India operations, Ikea had firm plans of spreading its footprints across the length and breadth of the country. Accordingly, after starting in the Southern and Western regions, the company is setting up Ikea Noida to mark its presence in the Delhi region covering North India. Ingka’s investment of €400 million in the Noida meeting place takes the total investment in both centres in North India to €900 million, which is massive indeed.
The Gurugram Meeting Place
Ingka Centre’s Gurugram meeting place will have a 9-storey building having a total building area of 1,700,000 square feet and is likely to open in 2025. This Ikea store in India is likely to be among the largest retail stores in the country unless Ingka surpasses its record. Rightly named a meeting place, the Gurugram project will offer a mix of food and beverage spaces and edutainment learning spaces beside a wide retail offer under the Ikea banner. Moreover, the meeting place will offer an assortment of local and global brands. Besides the sprawling retail space, the Gurugram meeting place will have 320,000 square feet earmarked for office space that would remain directly connected to the food and entertainment arrangements.
According to an Ingka Centres release, the company expects an annual footfall of 20 million. Although the company does not have immediate plans of opening other meeting places, the announcement about the plan to open the Ikea store in Noida is in line with the expansion plans of Ikea India.
No Development without an Ikea Store
Jan Kristensson, director for global expansion and development at Ingka Centres, clarified that any development project must include an Ikea store. The company would only consider locations like Gurugram, which can support an Ikea store. However, having a standard Ikea Store is unnecessary; as the company is open to other formats. Opening smaller stores in other cities demonstrates the company’s aim to be closer to the customer.
The plan for setting up an Ikea store in Noida aligns with the company’s philosophy of getting closer to a large section of people.
