Ikea Coming To India

Realty major DLF is in talks with the world’s largest home furnishings retailer, Ikea, in a bid to bring the Swedish brand into India. The developer is looking at a joint venture with Ikea on a sharing ratio that is yet to be finalised. The proposed tie-up is in line with the Delhi-based builder’s ambitious plans to bring in a number of foreign retail brands into India, especially in the luxury sector like Armani, Versace, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, D&G etc.

Confirming the development, a DLF official said that talks were underway with the home furnishings retailer and a tie-up is expected to be finalized soon. “It will be in the form of a joint venture and not a franchisee model. This means that Ikea stores will be set up in any space across India and not just in DLF’s malls,” he said.

Once finalised, Ikea is expected to give tough competition to HomeTown, home improvement stores launched by the Future Group last year. UK-based Roseby’s, which was bought by the Sanjay Dalmia Group, is also planning a foray into India soon. Home furnishings stores in India are typically spread over an area of about 80,000 to 2,00,000 square feet.

Compare this to Ikea, whose stores are normally spread over 3,00,000 to 5,00,000 sq/ft. Ikea has more than 235 stores in more than 30 countries across the world. The company clocked in a turnover of Euro 20,685 million in 2007. The Ikea concept is based on offering a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible are able to afford them.

Rather than selling expensive home furnishings that only a few can buy, the IKEA Concept makes it possible to serve the many by providing low-priced products that contribute to helping more people live a better life at home. In fact, the Ikea Concept relies on customers to choose, collect, transport and