27 April 2005
Swedish furniture giant Ikea will unveil its largest store in the Middle East in November in Dubai. Ikea's 35,000 square metre store at Dubai Festival City's retail arm, Festival Centre, will be four times bigger than Ikea's existing location at Deira City Centre.
Festival City will be the third move for Ikea in Dubai which started operations at Zabeel road in 1991 and then relocated to Deira City Centre in 1995.
"The furniture market has been growing tremendously on the back of a property boom in the UAE and this new store aims to take advantage of that," said Jim McCallum, group director of the retail division for Al Futtaim, adding that Ikea sales had recorded an annual growth rate of 25 per cent.
Al Futtaim owns the franchise for Ikea in the UAE.
The current Ikea store is expected to continue operations until the new store opens. The new outlet will stock 6,500 products, which is projected to increase to 8,500 in the next three years.
McCAllum said that it was also conceivable that Ikea could open another outlet in the UAE, if demand and company growth projections permitted.
McCallum said Al Futtaim's future plans also included opening the world's largest franchise stores for Marks and Spencer and Toys R Us at Festival City.
"The Marks and Spencer outlet will cover 65,000 square feet and will open in 2006," he said. Currently, the largest M&S store in the world is in the UK and it covers about 170,000 square feet of retail space.
Al Futtaim franchises now account for about 30 per cent of the gross leasable area in Festival City's retail space, McCallum added.
Swedish furniture giant Ikea will unveil its largest store in the Middle East in November in Dubai. Ikea's 35,000 square metre store at Dubai Festival City's retail arm, Festival Centre, will be four times bigger than Ikea's existing location at Deira City Centre.
Festival City will be the third move for Ikea in Dubai which started operations at Zabeel road in 1991 and then relocated to Deira City Centre in 1995.
"The furniture market has been growing tremendously on the back of a property boom in the UAE and this new store aims to take advantage of that," said Jim McCallum, group director of the retail division for Al Futtaim, adding that Ikea sales had recorded an annual growth rate of 25 per cent.
Al Futtaim owns the franchise for Ikea in the UAE.
The current Ikea store is expected to continue operations until the new store opens. The new outlet will stock 6,500 products, which is projected to increase to 8,500 in the next three years.
McCAllum said that it was also conceivable that Ikea could open another outlet in the UAE, if demand and company growth projections permitted.
McCallum said Al Futtaim's future plans also included opening the world's largest franchise stores for Marks and Spencer and Toys R Us at Festival City.
"The Marks and Spencer outlet will cover 65,000 square feet and will open in 2006," he said. Currently, the largest M&S store in the world is in the UK and it covers about 170,000 square feet of retail space.
Al Futtaim franchises now account for about 30 per cent of the gross leasable area in Festival City's retail space, McCallum added.
© 7Days 2005
