IKEA TO LAY FOUNDATION FOR 1ST INDIAN STORE ON AUG. 11

Hyderabad, July 13: Ikea, a global leader in retail furniture, will lay the foundation stone here next month for its first store in India that will open next year.

“Ikea is performing ground- breaking and laying of foundation stone for its first Indian store on August 11. After completion of the construction, the outlet is

look at traditional retail.

They include easing foreign investment rules for single- brand retailers, longer shopping hours and a new framework for establishing real estate investment trusts ( REITs).

“Almost every retailer would like to be here, and as they come they need quality space," said Siddharth Yog, chairman of Xander, whose Virtuous Retail arm owns 5 million square feet of operational expected to open somewhere in July- August next year,” an Ikea official said.

According to the official, the Swedish firm is planning to build a 400,000 square foot store here, which will also include a 1,000- seater restaurant serving Swedish cuisine, besides Indian and others. and under- development malls in India.

Xander is looking to buy and build new malls in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, said Yog, as the outlook for physical retail stores brightens in India. Investors had long shied away from shopping malls in India, amid weak consumer spending and deep discounts by online retailers like Amazon and local rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal.