“Going according to plan” – this is the statement from the officials of the Swedish furniture maker IKEA with regards to the construction of its Philippine outlet despite being hit by disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This IKEA branch in the Philippines will be the world’s largest and is set to open in the third or fourth quarter of this year. Its e-commerce site will be opening ahead of the physical store, says Georg Platzer, IKEA’s South Asia development manager.
“Everything is going according to plan. We have a plan of opening in Q3 or Q4 this year, starting first with e-commerce and then opening the store later. So we are progressing, it looks good… the situation is very fluid,” says Platzer.
“We meet everyday to discuss the pandemic, new developments and we’ll never know now. For now, we cannot communicate an official date but it’s Q3 or Q4 2021 to start our operations.”
Earlier, the company announced that they will be hiring about 500 workers to work for their Philippine branch. Philippine firm Rags2Riches was also engaged in creating custom-made textile.
The largest IKEA branch will be situated at the Mall of Asia Complex and is set to cover 65,000 square meters or equivalent to 150 basketball courts.
It was also mentioned that the 5 floors of IKEA Philippines will be dedicated to brick and mortar retail. The rest of the area will be for the warehouse and call center that will be handling the e-commerce side.
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