Swedish furniture giant IKEA is finally getting bullish on the Indian market with back-to-back store openings over the next couple of years. The retailer, which today unveiled its fourth store in Bengaluru, plans to launch at least 3-4 large-format stores in quick succession, senior executives from its India unit have said. business today.

After opening its first store in Hyderabad in 2018, IKEA launched its second store in Navi Mumbai in 2020 and another smaller urban store in Mumbai in 2021. With the launch of its large format store in Bengaluru today, IKEA counts now four points of sale in the country. .

According to the company, it is now the largest store in India, spread over 460,000 square feet. To run the store, IKEA has hired nearly 1,000 people, 70% of them locally, said Parineeta Cecil Lakra, Country People & Culture Manager at IKEA India.

“Currently we have some 3,000 people working for IKEA and we plan to increase that number to 10,000,” she said without specifying a timeframe.

According to Erik Jan Middelhoven, Director of Furnishings and Design at IKEA India, after the launch of the Bengaluru store, IKEA plans to open two more stores, one in Mumbai and one in Bengaluru. Next, it will turn to the Delhi-NCR region.

“Relevant teams are already working on the NCR project and finalization of the location is underway,” he said. LV.