It’s official!
Swedish furniture company IKEA is set to open its first store in the Philippines on November 25.
The announcement was made on its social media account on Friday.
The first store of the furniture and lifestyle brand in the country, located in Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, is said to be the world’s biggest IKEA store to date.
It is as big as 150 basketball courts as the store covers a total surface area of 68,000 square meters. The store is distributed across five floors, with two of which housing its brick-and-mortar retail space.
Some levels, on the other hand, would serve as its warehouse and call center that would handle e-commerce.
The lifestyle brand opened its online store to Filipino consumers last November 3. It has since operated 24/7.
Georg Platzer, store manager of Ikea Pasay said they are excited for the opening of the first store. He added that more than 500 workers have been preparing for this anticipated opening.
“It has been a challenging couple of years, but we are proud that even through a pandemic, we are now ready to build a better everyday life with the many people in the Philippines,” Platzer said.
For the first branch, Filipinos could expect 8,000 products at its Showroom and Market Hall which caters to every age and taste.
The furniture store also houses a restaurant that could accommodate 850 people as well as a marketplace offering a wide array of Swedish food products, vegetarian and vegan products such as meatballs, hot dogs and ice cream.
Customers could end their shopping experience at the Self-Serve area where they could bring home the furniture of their choice.
IKEA Philippines vowed to implement strict COVID-19 measures for in-store visitors.
In view of this, the store would only accept a limited number of people per day via a slot booking system.
Interested customers should first schedule the visit via ikea.ph where they would book the date and time slot of visit, choose the number of visitors—maximum of three; and get the digital token. The brand’s Family members would also be provided early access to book shopping slots.
“Safety continues to be our number one priority, which is why we are taking the necessary steps to safeguard everyone when they visit our Pasay City store. I ask visitors for their patience and compliance with the booking system we have in place,” Platzer said.
“Rest assured that our team is ready to serve you and provide the best possible IKEA experience on your scheduled booking,” it added.