Planning to visit IKEA’s first store in India? Well, make sure to put on your most comfortable footwear and keep at least half-a-day at hand for shopping. (And if you’re visiting anytime soon, keep the other half free to negotiate the traffic jam in the vicinity caused by thousands of shoppers.) On Aug. 09, when it first opened up for customers, around 40,000 shoppers turned up at the giant Hyderabad store that had been under construction for over two years. In the first 30 minutes itself, some 1,300 people walked in and by early evening there was a serpentine queue of those awaiting a glimpse of what the world’s largest furniture maker offered. The crowd ranged from families with kids to groups of men who had taken the day off just for this. While most of the shoppers were from Hyderabad, some had traveled hundreds of kilometres. For instance, Prerna Gupta has shopped at several IKEA stores around the world. When she heard of the Hyderabad opening, she travelled north over 600 km from Chennai to pick up furniture for her daughter’s room. Reuters/Subrat Patnaik Opening day. If navigating through that rush was exhausting, it’s wasn’t any different inside either. The three-storeyed 400,000 square feet (including parking) Hyderabad store is a maze, to say the least. In IKEA’s signature style, the outlet is divided into two parts: a market hall on the ground floor and a display showroom on the first floor. Then there’s also a 1,000-seater restaurant selling Hyderabad’s famed biryani, Swedish meatballs, and coffee, among other things. The entrance is designed such that shoppers are first guided up to the showroom via an escalator before they head down to the ground floor. A splash of colour and design The showroom basically helps shoppers see how large furniture items—some sold in IKEA’s famous ready-to-assemble boxes—look when assembled. These include sofa sets, tables, drawers, beds, etc. Customers can buy some small items like plastic cutlery, kids’ toys, and potted plants from this space, but the market hall is where most of IKEA’s more than 7,500 products are. IKEA A concept room at the store. The one thing that sets it apart from the 400 other IKEA outlets worldwide are the colours. “Indians love their colours, so we decided to display more of it,” said Mia Lundstrom, creative director (Life at Home), IKEA India. ”This is definitely among the most coloured stores we have anywhere.” Bright colours run both through the selection of products sold at the outlet and the way these items are displayed. For instance, in the textiles section, bright shades of orange and blue are displayed upfront while the browns and greys are at the back. Indian design aesthetics differ hugely from European tastes, where customers veer towards more monochrome tones. Which is why going forward IKEA will focus on adding more prints and colours here. Another unique feature is the display homes where the concepts for several rooms in a house are laid out: dining, study, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and living rooms, among others. A model bedroom set up, for instance, comprises a cot, a dressing table, and a wardrobe. These room sets are small (like most crammed Indian houses) and fit in everything much like how families in Hyderabad live. Quartz/Suneera Tandon A kid’s room on display in the showroom area. The idea is to familiarise first-timers with IKEA’s products and help them visualise their homes stuffed with IKEA furniture. These display homes have been designed based on research after visiting close to 300 homes in Hyderabad. “We don’t do such home (layouts) anywhere else in the world but India,” said Lundstrom. As one moves down the area, there are more concept rooms. Most items on display carry price tags so that consumers can decide on purchases right away. There are small items such as side tables (Rs599) and wooden chests (Rs3,500), while wardrobes are available at Rs14,990 and go upwards of Rs70,000. The displays include couches (the grey Ektorp priced at Rs23,990), desks (Rs11,900), bed frames (Rs17,990), armchairs (Rs4,950) and storage boxes, some priced at Rs249. A long row of stairs from this section lands at the market hall on the ground floor. Reuters/Subrat Patnaik Inside the store. The first section here is dedicated to kitchenware, a category IKEA is pushing the most in India. Items here are priced extremely low: a tawa (pan) costs just Rs149, while it comes at Rs300 on e-commerce portals. Most items in this section are also easily available in local markets, but IKEA feels the demand for low-priced products is likely to drive business. So far, it looks like IKEA has gone all out to woo consumers in its 50th market, where most shoppers remain unfamiliar with its do-it-yourself concept. However, a few hours into the opening day, one wonders if the preparation was enough. Curious shoppers By 4pm on day one (Aug. 09) the store was already packed. Outside, there was a winding queue of shoppers who may have to wait for over an hour or more. Those who did make it inside didn’t appear in a mood to leave any time soon. Most potential shoppers are just exploring: running their hands on the sofa sets, knocking on wooden tables, sinking themselves into mattresses, and tugging at price tags. The army of over 900 in-store staffers, of course, is on its toes. “This (concept) is all new to the people,” said Lundstrom. “Some [people] are familiar with the idea of IKEA, having lived abroad, while others are not.” At one of the many help desks, Max Monauier is swamped with queries. “People just want to know how to buy stuff, what the shopping procedure is, what the assembling process is,” the executive said. The most frequently asked questions are all about the way to the next section, prices, and delivery options. And this help is much needed. Bharat Ravula, a 40-year-old data analyst, had been at the store for over three hours looking for furniture for his new house. He had heard of IKEA from his friends but knew little of the Swedish firm’s products.<doc-sep>Ikea Hyderabad store: Retail giant IKEA brings Hyderabad to a halt HYDERABAD: Neither a downpour nor traffic snarls could deter curious Hyderabadi shoppers on Thursday from flooding IKEA 's first India store, with around 40,000 customers trooping in on the opening day.The footfalls may have started with a trickle on day one. But it soon turned into a torrent as the day progressed, continuing on day two as well. Shoppers swarmed the Swedish retail giant's outlet on Friday to get a touch and feel of what lies in store inside the 4-lakh-sqft building.Though IKEA refused to divulge the total sales it clocked on debut day, sources said the Swedish retailer rang up a little over Rs 1 crore, which is learnt to be nearly a third of what it had estimated.IKEA India deputy country manager Patrik Antoni said, "We have managed to attract all kinds of people as that is exactly what we would like to do...Anybody who has a need at home must come to IKEA." Antoni, who has witnessed IKEA's store openings in Russia and Portugal, felt Indian customers were more curious and were seen examining products carefully. Needless to say, people warmed up to IKEA's mattresses the most, making bedding solutions the largest-selling category followed by children items, with living-room seating solutions at the third spot .Interestingly, IKEA has already signed up nearly 1.7 lakh members in India, of which about 1.5 lakh alone are from Hyderabad, including 8,896 that were signed up on August 9, IKEA officials said. With the Swedish retailer gaining some more insights into the requirements of the Indian consumer, on day two it pressed more co-workers into service to guide shoppers. "As the store is very huge, some were confused as to where to go ... So today we have more co-workers to help people ... to get them to move in the right direction," Antoni explained.After the surging crowds caused traffic snarls in the vicinity of the store, IKEA took extra measures on Friday to inform shoppers about the available parking spaces and also made arrangements for external parking facilities. IKEA has 1,200 parking lots for private cars and 700 parking lots for private two-wheelers within its premises.<doc-sep>IKEA launched their first store in India Photo: Reuters IKEA India just launched their first-ever store in Hyderabad, India on Thursday. The launch saw around thousands of excited shoppers gathering outside the gates to shop and get a glimpse of the store. The situation got so out of hand that there was a stampede like situation inside the store and huge traffic jams outside it. So obviously, after seeing the large number of people going ridiculously crazy because of a store, Twitter users couldn't stop themselves from making fun of the launch and the jokes just kept coming in. Here are some of the best jokes. population of sweden is 0.13% of the world. i think they got introduced to that absolute figure at the #IKEAHyderabad store today. Ekta Batra (@ekta_batra) August 9, 2018 Dear over excited people of Hyderabad, #Ikea is not a single day exhibition, store will remain even after the first day #IKEAHyderabad V_H (@Intrepide_) August 9, 2018 This photograph was apparently taken yesterday evening. #IKEA first day first show was like a 'Tirupati' darshan queue both inside and outside the store. pic.twitter.com/OwxXJ7F4CP T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) August 9, 2018 Sobo woman 1: Just got a lot of stuff from #Ikea Sobo woman 2: Wow, you went all the way to Hyderabad? Sobo woman 1: No way! Just went to Dubai. Sobo woman 2: Phew. For a moment I thought you'd lost it. #IKEAHyderabad Radha Gokhale (@radhagokhale) August 10, 2018 We just walked from one side of #IKEA to the other and my phone switched time zones. Big store. pic.twitter.com/BUR0DbQSrT Todd McComas (@toddmccomas) August 6, 2018 This is a line for entrance of an entrance. #IKEA Concept of footfall in India is a vague concept. pic.twitter.com/oWdUHMNHNF Achint Satsangi (@Achintsatsangi) August 9, 2018 Got a WA message saying "Are Indians thinking #Ikea meant god; lining up outside like they would in Tirupati!" Adithya M Reddy (@AdithyaMarri) August 9, 2018 After waiting in queue for 4 hours, Hyderabadis are demanding Tirupati Laddoo.. #IKEAHyderabad #IKEA Rohit Swain (@rhtswn) August 9, 2018 The iconic Swedish furniture brand #Ikea, launches it's first store in #India. And here I am, still putting the pieces of my life together. Vinay Kanchan (@vinaykanchan5) August 9, 2018 Cant wait to spend all my life savings at #IKEAHyderabad Avenoir (@Adihyderabadi) August 8, 2018 List of Top 10 tourist places to visit in Hyderabad is updated now #IKEAHyderabad #Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/Oz8AIHEAsL August 9, 2018 Pic 1: ikea enters in India Pic 2: after seeing inflation no body buys their products and Going to local carpenters.#IKEAHyderabad #IKEA #ikeaindia pic.twitter.com/HMSJUoGiHC Safa.k (@safa_lg786) August 9, 2018 Going by the amount of jokes, clearly, Twitter had more fun than the people who braved the crowd of thousands to shop at the IKEA store. ALSO SEE | Inside Ikea Hyderabad store on Day 1: Thousands of visitors and a traffic jam ALSO WATCH | Inside IKEA Hyderabad store on opening day: Band, baaja, bedlam<doc-sep>The world's leading Swedish home furnishings retailer, IKEA, has received huge response from customers in Hyderabad, where it opened its first India store on Thursday. About 40,000 people visited IKEA`s India store on the opening day, a company spokesperson told IANS, refusing to share the numbers relating to the business transacted. The response, however, was in line with expectations, said store manager John Achillea, adding that they were expecting 40,000 to 45,000 people. With huge crowd thronging the store in the evening, the IKEA staff reportedly found it a bit difficult to regulate the entry, and there were also tense moments when some people broke queue to force their way in. A large number of visitors thronged the store as the company had launched an aggressive marketing campaign including advertisements with the prices of affordable products. As the sprawling store has come up in the heart of HITEC City, majority of the customers were reportedly techies from information technology companies. Of these, many were expatriates and Indians who have lived abroad and were familiar with the brand. Several visitors also enjoyed themselves at the 1,000-seater restaurant, which is the biggest for IKEA in its global network. The store housed in the 400,000 sq.ft area reportedly offers 7,500 products, including 1,000 products priced below Rs 200. Notably, IKEA's first India store has opened with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. Surprisingly, it opened five years after the single brand retailer received government approval in 2013 to invest Rs 10,500 crore to open 25 stores in India by 2025. Watch this Zee Business video The company has reportedly revised the number of stores to 40 across all formats. IKEA`s next store will open in Navi Mumbai in next summer, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi, thereafter it would reportdly cover Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Chennai and Kolkatta.<doc-sep>
The IKEA store in Hyderabad resembles a giant aircraft hangar in the heart of HITEC city. Spread over four lakh square feet, the building could easily house a handful of Airbus A380s. The choice of location for the Swedish giant’s flagship store in India seems perfect: the retail store is surrounded by high-rise construction sites, a mini township that will soon be home to the thousands of tech employees who work in the nearby IT parks. The campuses of multinational conglomerates such as Microsoft, Google, Tata Consultancy Services, HSBC and Deloitte surround the blue and yellow (colours of the Swedish flag) façade of the retail store. The newly-opened ITC Kohenur is barely a mile away in the east, while the Trident Hotel, located in the opposite direction, isn’t too far either. The IKEA store launched on August 9 and is a culmination of a journey that started more than six years ago. It was the brainchild of Telangana’s Special Chief Secretary (Industries) at the time, Pradeep Chandra, who wooed the Swedish retail giant, convincing them to choose Hyderabad as the launch city over several others that were in the race, including Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi. While IKEA’s Global CEO Jesper Brodin said, at the launch press conference, that they have “spades in the ground in many other locations across the country,” the store’s opening in Hyderabad has been a victory for the state government, who all but laid out the red carpet. Land allotments and permissions were expedited and an entire metro station’s plan was changed, so it would eventually get constructed opposite the store. The IKEA store in Hyderabad. Photo credit: Noah Seelam/AFP. Why all the brouhaha for a furniture brand? The answer becomes evident after a walk through the store. On the first floor there is a 1,000-seater restaurant, among the largest in India, serving a mix of Swedish and Indian cuisine. IKEA’s famous Swedish Meatballs find their way to the menu (in a chicken avatar, keeping in mind cultural sensibilities), while the smoked salmon tastes like it was fished but a few moments ago from a stream in Sweden. There are also an impressive array of desserts and of course, Hyderabadi biryani (for Rs 99), samosas and dal makhani. Next to the restaurant is the entrance to the labyrinth that houses IKEA’s 47 show apartments. Ranging in size from small and medium to large, each space had been fitted with its own design aesthetic. Products are displayed within the setting of a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, children’s nursery, a library doubling up as a study, artworks hang on the wall, rugs sit perfectly positioned on the floor. It’s not hard to sit in one of the many armchairs and be transported to a Los Angeles loft or an apartment in New York’s meatpacking district. There are Indian touches aplenty. IKEA’s design teams visited more than 1,000 homes around the country across various income groups, to get a sense and feel of the cultural sensibilities and needs. They then curated the merchandise for the store, along with the themes and designs for the show apartments, which include pictures of Indian monuments, such as the Taj Mahal, hanging beside Beatles posters and little touches like laundry in an apartment balcony. There are also several innovative elements: intelligent storage options that hide away into furniture that could quite possibly surprise an Indian consumer, who is otherwise used to a very different school of furniture design. A girl checks one of the 47 show apartments at the store. Photo credit: Noah Seelam/AFP. A floor below the show apartments displays the entire range of IKEA’s 7,500 products, to browse through which, the customer is expected to walk along an arrow-marked path that IKEA calls “the long natural way”. It’s hard to leave without viewing everything on display: the payment counters are more than a kilometre away from the entrance and it is near-impossible to stick to a pre-determined shopping plan and not browse through everything else that’s on offer. There are scented candles, a fridge for Rs 32,800, cupboards, sofas, duvets, pillows, bedsheets, towels for Rs 145, throws made in Thailand for Rs 250, glass vases for Rs 45, Indian hand-woven carpets at throwaway prices, faux orchids, Balinese wheatgrass in a pot for display...the list goes on. For people visiting an IKEA store for the first time, though, it can be a bit overwhelming: there’s just so much to do, so many things to see.