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IKEA

Ikea aims to double in size by 2020

Swedish furniture giant Ikea has robust finances despite the economic crisis and will more than double the pace of its new store openings, company officials told a Swedish newspaper on Tuesday.

Ikea aims to double in size by 2020

“Thanks to our very strong finances, we have the possibility to invest the significant sums that are needed, even when times are tough in general,” Göran Grosskopf, chairman of the Ingka Holding parent company that comprises all of the Ikea businesses, told financial daily Dagens Industri.

“By 2020 we aim to have almost doubled Ikea’s size,” he added.

According to Dagens Industri, Ikea plans to build 20 to 25 new stores per year by 2020 compared to the current rate of six to 10 per year.

That is also expected to create tens of thousands of jobs worldwide.

“As we see it, our voyage has just begun. We see a huge potential for growth, both on existing markets and new ones,” Ikea chief executive Mikael Ohlsson told the newspaper.

“We have grown faster than expected and are consistently gaining market share,” he added.

“Our figures (for the 2011-2012 fiscal year) are not yet completely ready, but on a preliminary basis our sales rose by about 7.0 percent,” Ohlsson said.

Contacted by AFP, Ikea did not want to provide any detailed figures.

“We’ll get back to you in January when we’re finished counting,” company spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said.

According to Dagens Industri’s own calculations, sales for the fiscal year September 2011 to August 2012 should tick in around €26.4 billion ($34.6 billion).

Ikea has 297 stores in 26 countries, with some 655 million customers each year. Some 211 million copies of its catalogue are printed in 29 languages.

AFP/The Local

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WEATHER

Danish Ikea store shelters staff and customers overnight during snowstorm

Heavy snowfall left 31 people looking for a spare cushion at the Aalborg branch of Ikea on Wednesday as they were forced to spend the night at the store.

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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