We all went crazy last year when rumors came out about Ikea opening in the Philippines. We kept guessing, dreaming of all the things we could finally get, until ultimately we got final news: Ikea’s opening in SM Mall of Asia.
Here’s what you need to know about Ikea Philippines:
It’s the biggest Ikea in the world
The size is around 150 basketball courts—65,000 sqm. It’ll be situated in the former parking lot between SMX Convention Center and SM Arena.
They have two customized floors, a floor for their goods, and parking levels. All the key elements of a usual Ikea store will also be seen in Ikea Philippines, with a similar layout, just on a bigger space.
55 showrooms will also be set up. Ikea also studied how Filipinos live, and will be taking that into consideration in designing the showrooms.
13% of Filipinos know Ikea
Ikea did a survey and found that the Swedish brand is already quite familiar here. In Southeast Asia, Ikea has sold products totaling to SGD828 million from their stores in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand in 2017 alone. They also totaled 23.3 million store visits last year. As for the popular Ikea Swedish meatballs? They sold 35 million.
They’re bringing the restaurant, too
Speaking of meatballs, Ikea Philippines will also be opening the restaurant as part of the store. The restaurant will be a 1,000-seater space.
More jobs for people
Ikea Philippines will be having at least 500 people on staff. (500 people get to wear the iconic yellow striped shirts!)
They’ll keep the low prices
Ikea is known for being relatively cheap while keeping a good quality of products. Ikea executives confirmed that there’s no need to worry about increased prices in the upcoming store, as they’re keeping it as low as possible.
You can start getting inspiration with their new website, ikea.ph
The website is live today. While you can’t shop online yet, you can browse the site for ideas and to learn more about Ikea.
Read more:
New IKEA India hints at how Manila store might look