5th February, 2017
One of the most awaited stores in the Kingdom, IKEA Bahrain, is on track with its construction plans, a senior official said.
Since its groundbreaking ceremony in October last year, Bahrain-based Kooheji Contractors who have over 40 years of experience in construction, civil engineering, and design services in the MENA region are in charge of the project.
Fruto Hernandez, IKEA Saudi Arabia Expansion Manager, said: “The main works contract has been awarded to Kooheji Contractors whose construction experience expands across a variety of industries. The enabling and foundation works of IKEA Bahrain are complete and the main work has started.”
“Right now we are continuing with the slab works, water proofing, underground piping and precast order which are in progress. Our aim is for the store to be completed by the second quarter of 2018,” he added.
Construction will culminate in the second quarter of 2018 and the store located in Salmabad will be open to the public later the same year.
IKEA Bahrain, which is being opened in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Al Sulaiman Group, IKEA Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, will be the biggest in the region and house the biggest restaurant in the Kingdom with 800 seats over an area of 2,500 square meters.
It will house a 6,200 square meter showroom, a 6,000 square meter market hall for accessories, 5,000 square meter of self-serve area, and 4,000 square meter of full-serve area.
The bistro and Swedish food market, which facilitates grab-and-go snacks and take-home meals respectively, will take up about 500 sq m of the total area.
The store’s 220-sq-m play facility, called Smaland (named after the small town in Sweden where IKEA started), will ensure that customers have an enjoyable shopping experience as children are taken care of by IKEA staff, free of charge. It will also have over 1,100 parking spaces spread over two levels.
Ikea is the world’s largest retailer for furniture and is known the world over for its ready-to-assemble furniture and other home appliances. It has 385 stores spread over 48 countries. Upon completion, over 1.2 million people are expected to visit IKEA Bahrain every year.
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About IKEA Saudi Arabia
IKEA Saudi Arabia, the leading home furnishings retailer in the region and a member of the Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman Furnishing Co. Ltd, offers an affordable and extensive range of home furnishing products of good design, value, and functionality. Since the opening of the first IKEA store in Jeddah in 1983, IKEA has expanded its Saudi operations to Riyadh and Dhahran with plans for further expansion. All three stores closely follow the popular self-serve, self-assembly concept and feature a wide array of inspiring designs and home furnishing solutions.
© Press Release 2017
