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Ikea company unveils rapid China expansion

Inter Ikea Centre Group, (IICG) a sister company of the Swedish furniture retailer, has announced plans to build two new shopping centres in China, an investment worth $1,2 billion.

Published: 28 November 2009 12:00 CET

The company unveiled projects including a sprawling shopping destination in Beijing, which will house 450 brands alongside the main attraction of the city’s second Ikea store, set to open in 2014.

A further development will be located in Wuxi in the eastern Jiangsu province and a company statement confirmed further investment in China is likely to surface in the future.

China is the group’s first investment destination outside its home of Europe where it has interest in 13 countries.

Since its flagship China store opened in Shanghai in 2003, Ikea has added a further six stores across the country.

The Chinese market accounted for about two percent of Ikea’s global total in 2008.

“Although well-known in China, Ikea’s pace of expansion has been relatively slow in the country,” said an IICG company statement.

“Now when Inter Ikea Centre Group moves into the Chinese market, both are expected to see accelerated development in China.”

IICG was founded in 2001 and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021.

A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Anyone who has found themselves wandering the mazy aisles of an Ikea might be able to empathise with the sense of being lost in the furniture store for a seemingly indefinite time.

Such a feeling was probably more real than usual for six customers and 25 staff members who were forced to spend the night at the furniture giant’s Aalborg branch after being snowed in.

Heavy snow in North Jutland brought traffic to a standstill and halted public transport in parts of the region on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a snow-in at Ikea.

“This is certainly a new situation for us,” Ikea Aalborg store manager Peter Elmose told local media Nordjyske, which first reported the story.

“It’s certainly not how I thought my day would end when I drove to work this morning,” Elmose added.

The 31 people gathered in the store’s restaurant area and planned to see Christmas television and football to pass the evening, the store’s manager reported to Nordjyske.

“Our kitchen staff have made sure there is hot chocolate, risalamande, pastries, soft drinks, coffee and the odd beer for us in light of the occasion. So we’ll be able to keep warm,” he said.

“We couldn’t just send them outside and lock the door behind them at our 8pm closing time. Absolutely not. So of course they’ll be staying here,” he added.

The temporary guests were given lodging in different departments of the store in view of the Covid-19 situation, Nordjyske writes.

“For us , the most important thing was to take care of each other and that everyone feels safe,” Elmose said.

At least Ikea’s stranded customers and staff had somewhere comfortable to lay their heads.

The same can unlikely be said for around 300 passengers at the city’s airport who had to stay overnight at the terminal.

The airport was forced to stop flights from 2:30pm yesterday amid worsening weather, which also prevented buses from transferring passengers to hotels.

“We have around 300 people in the terminal right now and have been giving out blankets on the assumption they will be staying here tonight,” Aalborg Airport operations manager Kim Bermann told Nordjyske.

READ ALSO: Ikea reopens in Denmark after country’s worst retail month this century

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