Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA is set to open its second Indian store in Navi Mumbai on 18 December, 2020. The first IKEA store in India was opened in August 2018 in Hyderabad.
The store is reported to be over 5 lakh square feet, and will be located on the Thane-Belapur road.
Peter Betzel, IKEA India CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, has expressed his excitement saying, “Mumbai is one of our priority markets in India. We have been present online in Mumbai since early 2019 and soon the many people of Mumbai will be able to shop at our fantastic IKEA store.”
Amid the COVID-19 health crisis, the leading retailer has said that it is taking extra precautions to deliver a safe shopping experience, PTI reported.
To ensure that social distancing rules are followed, IKEA will initially limit the number of visitors coming to the store through online registration. The customers will be allotted a date and time to visit.
Betzel has also said, “With our long-term commitment to Maharashtra we will create 6000+ jobs by 2030 of which 50 per cent will be women.”
Maharashtra Industry Minister Subhash Desai welcomed the store’s opening, and added, “IKEA’s further expansion with its Navi Mumbai store will create a positive impact in many ways — growing the home furnishings retail and manufacturing sector, creating more jobs, skill development and logistical development in the state. The local community will highly benefit from IKEA’s presence.”
The store will reportedly employ 1,200 workers, 40 percent of which will be locals from the Navi Mumbai area and 70 percent of support staff, including housekeeping and security, will be from in and around Turbhe and Ghansoli.
(With inputs from PTI and The Hindu)
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