Ikea has revealed plans in place for its first small-store concept in South-east Asia. In this business model, the Swedish home goods retailer instead of establishing another of its standalone blue warehouse buildings, instead becomes a tenant within a mall.
The company has already rolled out these concepts in major cities like New York and London, where the now popular mini FRAKTA bags were first seen.
Located at the Jem shopping mall in Jurong East, the store will be spread across three floors and span almost 70,000 square feet. It will be Ikea's third store in Singapore - the first two blue-box stores in Tampines and Alexandra attract close to seven million visits a year - and will offer the full Ikea product range as well as a restaurant selling its famous Swedish meatballs.
The outlet will not have a playground or a built-in warehouse. Products will be organised within a single department, instead of being showcased separately according to each core area of the home.
Ikea's announcement comes days after Robinsons Singapore said it will shutter its Jem outlet by the end of August this year. The department store operator currently occupies four floors totalling 85,000 sq ft within Jem.
