JOIN USAs of January 2008, the world’s largest furniture retailer was the “ready to assemble furniture” giant IKEA. It was recently announced that we in India are going to get our own IKEA stores. IKEA has laid the foundation stone for its first store in Hyderabad.
This is the first of 25 stores that have been planned. They are going to come up at the rate of two to three stores per year, and the first store is to be followed by stores in Mumbai,
Bengaluru and New Delhi. IKEA India, a part of the Swedish giant, has committed to an investment of Rs 2,000 Crores in Karnataka.
So, what is it all about and what makes it so popular? As a diehard fan of IKEA furniture, to me, IKEA is all about practicality and aesthetics combined at an affordable price. IKEA pieces have the polished look of much more expensive furniture and their contemporary looks cannot be beaten. In addition to bold colours, the company is known for modern architectural designs in its furniture and is often associated with its eco-friendly simplicity.
The one big question about IKEA’s presence in India, however, is, “Are we ready to do our own assembly?” and the answer is, “Why not? And if not, any number of enterprising carpenters will step up and help us out – for a small charge of course!”