IKEA: India Key to Growth

Furniture retailer IKEA (Leiden, Netherlands), whose store count has nearly doubled over the last decade, recently entered the markets of South Korea and Croatia, and says it plans to open its first store in India this year, with 25 additional stores planned for the growing nation over the next ten years.

According to The Telegraph, 222 of IKEA’s 315 stores are in Europe, but a rising middle class throughout Asia is pushing the company’s growth strategy eastward.

IKEA’s first Indian store will open in Hyderabad, the capital of the southern Indian state of Telangana. The company has also accelerated expansion in China in the past year, with openings in Beijing and Guangdong.