IKEA is a well-known Swedish furniture and home accessories store with outlets around the world, including UAE and other Middle East countries. IKEA is famous for its good value furniture that is easy to transport.
IKEA is a one stop shop for all the needs at home, which includes various selections of house-ware, furnishing, furniture and other home accessories. It offers living room sofa, chairs, dining table or bed, along with a hand-picked collection of posters, picture frames, tableware, and soft cotton towels which are available in different colours and designs.
Even though its Swedish origin is characterized in the product range, IKEA also presents styles particular to any country. IKEA also offers assistance in furnishing the home and offices, by providing advices and suggestions on the kind of furniture which suits your home according to the available space and the colour of carpet.
IKEA sells most furniture disassembled–which means shelves, tables, chairs and desks, can be packed and fitted into your vehicle. The IKEA product line also includes office furniture, bathroom fixtures, beddings, plastic plants, and wicker baskets.
IKEA in Dubai
IKEA came to Middle East and to Dubai in 1991, with their very first showroom located in Zabeel Road. In the year 1995, IKEA moved to the Deira City Centre, which was subsequently closed in November 2005. This was to pave the way for the same month opening of a four times bigger IKEA store at Dubai Festival City, the 1,600-acre waterfront development.
IKEA UAE, which operates two outlets in Dubai Festival City and Yas Island, proposes to have another flagship store in Dubai to cater to the demands of southern part of the emirate. The new store will be equal to the size of Yas Island outlet and is expected to open by the end of 2013.
IKEA in Abu Dhabi
In March 2001, IKEA UAE, a part of Al-Futtaim group, opened a new store in Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi. After almost 11 years, on March 15, 2011, the Marina Mall store is relocated to the new store on Yas Island. IKEA announced that it is expecting to serve nearly 1.3 million visitors in the first year of operations on Yas Island, a major leisure and entertainment destination in Abu Dhabi.
IKEA aims to be one of the first globally recognized retailers on Yas Island. The 32,000sqm flagship store will be a strong impetus for the Swedish retailer to to expand into the region.
IKEA Yas Island
The Yas Island IKEA has 1,500 parking bays for its visitors who will be served by 35 cash tills at the back of a total sales area of 19,150sqm. The cash tills include refund/exchange desks and IKEA Food and Beverage counters. Alongside Market-Hall (6,000sqm) and Showroom Furniture (6,150sqm) areas, there will also be a 550-seat, 2,100sqm restaurant serving popular Swedish delicacies. There is also a fun play area for the young customers.
IKEA is to enter into talks with Abu Dhabi transport authorities in an effort to establish a permanent fleet of taxis outside its Yas Island premises. The low number of taxis currently operating on Yas Island could mean that customers without their own vehicles may face a long wait for transport back to Abu Dhabi city centre. The store is more than three times the size of Abu Dhabi Marina Mall store and bigger than the 25,400sqm store in Dubai Festival City, thus making it the biggest IKEA store in the Middle East.
IKEA UAE will begin free delivery of its signature annual publication – the IKEA Catalogue 2011 – to all UAE on 1st September following the simultaneous 38-country global launch. Themed ‘Hooray for Every Day’, the 60th edition features 380 pages of fittings, furnishings, accessories with their price points.
IKEA UAE has appointed Blue Truck LLC to undertake the free door-to-door delivery of nearly 733,250 copies of the catalogue which was first published in 1951. The new 2011 catalogue comes in an easy-to-carry format which is smaller in size than previous catalogues. IKEA Catalogue can be viewed by visiting http://info.ikeauae.com/products/Catalogue.aspx
The full IKEA range includes around 7500 products, some of which can be seen on the website www.IKEAuae.com. IKEA also offers a home delivery and assembly service in UAE at reasonable rates.
IKEA Opening hours
IKEA opening hours are from 10 am to 10 pm daily. IKEA restaurants open at 09:30 am and close 30 minutes before store closing time.
IKEA Contact details
Phone: toll-free in UAE 800-4532 (800-IKEA)
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IKEA Dubai Festival City Contact
Phone: +971-4-20375555 Fax: +971-4-2037620 Email: IKEA_dubai@alfuttaim.ae
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IKEA Abu Dhabi Marina Mall
Phone: +971-2-6812228 Email: IKEA_abudhabi@alfuttaim.ae
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IKEA Abu Dhabi Yas Island
Phone:+971-2-4935888, Fax: +971-2-4935830 Email: IKEA_abudhabi@alfuttaim.ae
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Expansion Plans of IKEA
The Swedish furniture retail giant already has four stores in rest of the Middle East–one in Kuwait and three in Saudi Arabia, with different franchises. In the UAE, it currently has two under the franchise relations of Al Futtaim Group and third one will be ready in Abu?Dhabi next year. It will seek further expansion in other untapped Gulf markets such as Qatar, Cairo and Oman. In Doha, IKEA is likely to enter into a joint venture with a combination of residential and commercial segments. The new and upcoming outlet in Dubai is likely to be a standalone store like the one opened at Yas Island either at Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Lakes Towers. IKEA is also expected to be part of Cairo Festival City and Doha Festival City. The IKEA UAE will supervise the region’s expansion plan in Doha and Cairo, while Dubai remains the IKEA hub in the region.