Ikea will expand in the US and open eight new stores in the country

() — Ikea plans to invest 2 billion euros ($2.19 billion) to expand its furniture empire in the United States, in what will be the largest investment in the retailer’s history in a single country.

Ingka Group, the Dutch holding company for Ikea Retail, said in a statement on Thursday that it expected to open eight large stores and nine smaller “planning and ordering points” in the United States over the next three years. The new outlets would create 2,000 jobs, he added.

Ikea planning and ordering points are aimed at customers who want to talk to a consultant about how to design their homes, as well as place orders.

The exact locations of the new US stores have not yet been decided, a spokesperson for Ingka told , although the company intends to increase its presence on the east and west coasts and invest more in the south of the country. .

Tolga Öncü, director of Ikea Retail, said the company saw “endless opportunities to grow” in the United States.

“More than ever, we want to increase the density of our US presence, increase our fulfillment capabilities and make our range even more relevant to the needs and dreams of local customers,” he said.

The company already has 51 stores and two plan and order points in the US. new ikea locationswhich are not covered by the $2.1 million investment, will open in San Francisco, California, and Arlington, Virginia, this summer.

Ingka also said it planned to use some of its handsome investment to modernize its existing Ikea stores in the US to allow them to ship more packages.

Ikea, which was founded in Sweden in 1943, is the world’s largest furniture retailer, with presence in 31 countries. Its stores currently operate as franchises, with the Ingka Group being by far the largest franchisee, accounting for around 90% of Ikea’s sales globally.

Öncü told the Financial Times on Thursday that he expected the United States to overtake Germany as Ikea’s biggest market in terms of sales in the coming years.

Ingka Group posted sales of 5.5 billion euros ($6.0 billion) in the United States in the last fiscal year, which ended in August 2022. In Germany, it posted sales of 5.7 billion euros ($6.2 billion) during the same period.