The Swedish-founded furniture giant IKEA Group headquartered in Delft (the Netherlands) has opened its first store in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv.
The shop hosted by the Blockbuster Mall on the second floor started work on February 1, the Ukrainian online news outlet Obozrevatel reported on Monday, February 1.
Read alsoIKEA launches online sales in UkraineDue to quarantine restrictions, no more than 500 people can be inside the store simultaneously, while only one entrance to the store is open, out of its three ones. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by nearly 200 buyers.
The store also has a department selling restored furniture and second life goods.
Initially, the Swedish company planned to open its first store in the Kyiv-based Ocean Mall in autumn 2019. In the summer of 2020, after the launch of its online store, IKEA signed a lease agreement with the Blockbuster Mall.
The new concept store was to welcome the first visitors by the end of 2020.
However, quarantine curbs and shutting down of all malls on January 8-25, 2021, forced the company to once again postpone the ribbon-cutting event.
IKEA in Ukraine: Background
- In 2019, IKEA signed a contract to open a 6,000-square-meter store at Kyiv's Blockbuster Mall.
- Overall, IKEA had been trying to enter the Ukrainian market for 15 years.
- First, the company wanted to open its store in Ukraine in 2005, then in 2007 and 2008.
- IKEA launched online sales in Ukraine in May 2020.
- On July 10, 2020, IKEA announced it intended to open the first store in Ukraine by late 2020.
Memo
- IKEA is one of the world's largest retail chains and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, and home accessories. It was established in Sweden in 1943. There are several companies operating under the IKEA brand with different owners.
- The IKEA Group includes manufacturing companies, store distributions sites, pick-up and order points, as well as 403 retail outlets in 27 countries. In total, the IKEA Group operates in 49 countries.
- Today, the company has three pick-up and order points in Kyiv.