Swedish furniture and homeware company IKEA will be opening its flagship store in Bengaluru in June 2022, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum summit in Davos on Wednesday, May 25. Jester Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group of which IKEA is a part, met CM Bommai and held discussions in the backdrop of Ikea Store being opened in Bengaluru.
“I am pleased to announce that IKEA will be opening their flagship store in Nagasandra in June 2022. We are also in talks with the organisation to encourage local manufacturing, thus boosting employment and economic growth,” Bommai said in a tweet.
I am pleased to announce that @IKEAIndia will be opening their flagship store in Nagasandra in June 2022. We are also in talks with the organisation to encourage local manufacturing, thus boosting employment and economic growth. #KarnatakaAtDavos #BuildForTheWorld @wef pic.twitter.com/SXQDlri96N
— Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) May 25, 2022
The IKEA store (furniture) is set to be inaugurated at Nagasandra in June. The India head office of IKEA is in Bengaluru and issues related to extensive use of bamboo and other locally available raw materials in the making of furniture came up for discussion during the meeting. According to an official statement, Brodin has invited CM Bommai for the inauguration.
IKEA’s Bengaluru's store would be the company’s third in the country after Mumbai and Hyderabad. It is spread over 5 lakh sq ft, and is expected to employ 800-1000 direct workers and another 1,500 indirectly offering services such as assembly and delivery. The store is looking to attract more than 70 lakh visitors every year.
The company had earlier stated that Karnataka was a “priority market” and IKEA India would be investing over Rs 2,000 crore in the long term and around Rs 1,000 crore in the Bengaluru store.
“IKEA works with 9 home furnishing suppliers in Karnataka, including a social entrepreneur engaging 1,200 local artisans, thereby increasing its local sourcing footprint in the state,” the company had said.
IKEA has an online presence currently in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara.
The list of people present at Wednesday’s meeting included Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, Commissioner in the Department of Industries Gunjan Krishna, IT& BT Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, Additional Chief Secretary in the Department of Industries E V Ramana Reddy and Chief Minister's Principal Secretary N Manjunath.