IKEA opening a few weeks away, here's a sneak peek into its first outlet in Bahrain
THE long wait for IKEA buffs in Bahrain is over! They will no longer have to drive across the causeway to buy furniture and houseware in Saudi Arabia.
The Swedish home furnishings conglomerate is a few weeks away from opening its largest regional store, spread over 37,000sqm, in Salmabad.
No firm date has yet been fixed but the superchain is expected to open in the third quarter of this year, store manager Fatima Gustafsson told the GDN in an exclusive interview.
More than 7,500 products, including iconic brands like Billy bookcases, Poang chairs and Bang mugs, will be on the shelves of the 6,200sqm showroom.
The BD47 million complex will also incorporate a 6,000sqm market hall for accessories, 5,000sqm of self-service area and 4,000sqm of full-service in a warehouse-like space.
IKEA Bahrain, which is being opened in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Al Sulaiman Group, will also be home to a 700-seat restaurant, the biggest in Bahrain, spread over 2,500sqm.
The restaurant will serve the famous Ikea Swedish meatballs and smoked salmon along with Arabic cuisine, added Ms Gustafsson.
A bistro offering grab-and-go snacks and a Swedish food market selling lingonberry jam, coffee and chocolate will take up about 500sqm of the total area.
“In the future, the company will also look to locally source ingredients from Bahraini suppliers,” said Ms Gustafsson.
The store is expected to create up to 350 new jobs, when it is running at full tilt, and 320 will be on the payroll as the store opens its shutters.
“In the pre-opening phase as we put the finishing touches on construction and fit-outs, we have 238 employees at the moment, of whom 45 per cent are Bahraini.”
Ms Gustafsson said she expected locals to make up at least 50pc of the workforce eventually.
IKEA has spent months researching the Bahraini market “to learn more about how people live here and how rooms are furnished,” she said, which has helped it to customise products and concepts and get the right combination of form, function, quality, sustainability and price.
“We have tried to make changes to the store to reflect local culture,” she said, adding that the company’s vision is “Creating a better everyday life for Bahrain.”
“We found storage solutions are a hot-seller in the region as homes are more spacious and families are bigger on average.
“Also there are seasonal spikes in demand for foldable tables and chairs during Ramadan, for majlises and the camping season.”
According to Ms Gustafsson, as the furniture will be displayed in real-sized rooms and mock-ups, shoppers will get “a real idea of how different elements come together and how big each item is”.
IKEA is expecting the store’s 220sqm play facility, called Smaland (named after the small town in Sweden where it all started), to be a big attraction with families.
“Children can be left in the care of IKEA staff free of charge while parents shop to their heart’s content,” said Ms Gustafsson.
The store will also have more than 1,200 parking spaces spread over two levels. Upon completion, over 1.2 million people are expected to visit IKEA Bahrain every year.
There are currently over 400 IKEA stores in 49 different markets around the world – 11 of these are in seven Middle Eastern countries.
