Photo Credit: Isabel Mara Delgado

If you’re wondering whether the clamor about an IKEA store opening in the Philippines is true, we’ll confirm it now – it is! Christian Rojkjaer, the Managing Director of IKEA Southeast Asia, formally announced this Philippine expansion last November 20 (Tuesday) at the Mall of Asia.

For those who didn’t already know, IKEA is a Swedish store that sells ready-to-assemble home furniture, appliances, and accessories. It is known for modern and simplistic designs that aren’t heavy on the wallet. Not many people know this, but IKEA is actually an acronym. The I and K stand for Ingvar Kamprad, the founder, while E and A stand for Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm he grew up in and his hometown respectively.

Photo Credit: Isabel Mara Delgado 

Aside from the fact that many Filipinos have been waiting to have an IKEA store in the country, what makes this expansion special is that the IKEA store in the Philippines will be the biggest in the world. According to Rojkjaer said that a typical IKEA store is about 35,000 square meters. Meanwhile, the design for IKEA Philippines is around 65,000 square meters. Since IKEA stores are known to occupy huge spaces of land, there have been talks as to where it will be located. Places such as Subic and Laguna came up, but the true location is Manila. IKEA Philippines will be near the SMX Convention Center and Mall of Asia, which happened to be the largest shopping mall in the Philippines at the time it opened.

Instead of being a huge laid-out area similar to other IKEA stores, the Manila branch will be five stories high. The shopping area is still more or less the same with other branches (which covers 2 of the 5 floors). The rest will be a warehouse and an integrated call center for their e-commerce purposes. Consumers will be happy to know that there is also a supervised play area for kids as well a connection to the nearby mall, making it all very easily accessible. To those already wondering whether they’ll be able to try IKEA’s famous meatballs, the IKEA Philippines will have its own full-service restaurant as well, same with all the other IKEA stores worldwide.

Photo Credit: Isabel Mara Delgado

The opening of an IKEA store here in the Philippines comes at a very great timing as more and more people opt to get their own condos and live separately. IKEA Philippines also brings about a lot of job opportunities for many Filipinos. Georg Platzer, future IKEA Philippines Store Manager, shared that they will be offering more than 9,000 products, and so this endeavor will require them about 500 people to operate the store.

It is set to open in 2020. Not to worry though, it’s already in construction. It is almost 2019 already, which means the wait is probably just a little over a year. On the same day that it opens, their e-commerce website will also be launched, so if you can’t immediately go to the store itself, you can still check out IKEA’s furniture from the comfort of your own couch. Needless to say, Filipinos are certainly excited for IKEA Philippines to open.