IKEA Plans Korean Expansion

IKEA (Delft, Netherlands) announced that will invest $1.01 billion to build five new stores in South Korea by 2020. Four of the stores will be located in and around Seoul. The next store to open will be located north of Seoul and is expected to open in 2017.

The news comes as the retailer has wrapped up its first year of business in the country. Last year, the company opened its first store in the country, located in suburban Seoul. That location was also the retailer’s largest store in the world. Since opening, the store has performed better than expected, attracting about 6.7 million visitors.

The retailer plans to target design-savvy Korean customers throughout the country’s urban areas, reports The Korea Herald.