IKEA opens new showroom in Navi Mumbai

The Swedish home furnishings retailer is already present online in Hyderabad and Pune. Its Navi Mumbai store opens today.

IKEA (part of the Ingka Group), the world’s leading Swedish home furnishings retailer, will open the doors to its Navi Mumbai store at 11 a.m. today. The store will remain open daily between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. The Navi Mumbai store is IKEA’s second store in India and the first big format store in Maharashtra.

A press note mentions that the store is a landmark development intended to attract an annual visitation of five million-plus people. Located on the Thane-Belapur Road, approximately 600 metres from the Turbhe railway station, the 5.3 lakh sq. ft. store promises to be a ‘fun day out’ for the family. It will offer 7,000 well-designed, affordable, good quality, functional and sustainable home furnishing products, along with ideas and inspiration for every home in Mumbai.

Peter Betzel, CEO and chief sustainability officer at IKEA India, said, “It marks a major milestone as Mumbai is the first omnichannel market for IKEA in India. People can now visit our store, shop online or buy their favourite and affordable products through our ‘Click & Collect’ service. We are happy to bring our passion and knowledge for home furnishing to the people of Maharashtra. We want to contribute positively to today’s extraordinary times, where home has emerged as the centre of our universe.”

Per Hornell, market and expansion manager and Maharashtra MD, IKEA India, said, “We have a long-term commitment to Maharashtra to create a positive impact on the local economy through our business. With our growing retail presence, IKEA will be a strong contributor to increasing the overall home furnishing market. We will generate opportunities for a growing ecosystem for the whole industry, including developing people and skills."

Hornell added in the press note that Mumbai has a unique spirit... "We are excited to meet customers in our store and learn even more about how we together can create a true home furnishing movement, especially now at a time when our homes are even more important."

The store will house IKEA’s largest children’s area ‘Småland’ globally, along with one of the company’s largest 1,000-seater restaurants, with almost 100 per cent locally sourced food range.

With a planned investment of Rs 6,000 crore by 2030, IKEA aims to meet 25 million people in Maharashtra. It will provide over 6,000 jobs, of which 50 per cent will be for women.

In Navi Mumbai, IKEA is expected to boost employment opportunities for the local community. The IKEA Navi Mumbai store will employ close to 1,000 coworkers, of which 50 per cent will be women, and 40 per cent of these will be from the Navi Mumbai area. Currently, the store has more than 70 per cent support staff – mainly housekeeping and security – coming from in and around Turbhe and Ghansoli.

IKEA firmly believes that it will create the best work environment. It will offer equal pay and growth opportunities for all. The store also believes in empowering women and has seen women taking up job roles traditionally reserved for men, such as forklift driving, power stacking, assembly and installation services.

IKEA continues to develop its omnichannel presence with e-commerce, physical stores and additional services as Click & Collect, Click & Deliver and remote planning. After the Navi Mumbai store, two more IKEA city centre stores will open in 2021. IKEA is already present online in Hyderabad and Pune, and has the ambition to reach 100 million Indian customers by 2022.