Source: eKapija | Monday, 27.02.2017.| 11:32
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Preparations for second IKEA store project in Belgrade in progress – Construction of Ljubljana facility to start by summer 2017

The opening of the IKEA store in Bubanj Potok has been planned for the summer of 2017, and the construction, which started in the spring of 2016, is two weeks ahead of the schedule, despite hard winter conditions. At the same time, the company is preparing to raise stores in Ljubljana and Bucharest.

Following these investments, as Vladislav Lalic, Regional Property & Expansion Manager at IKEA South East Europe, says, IKEA will initiate other project. As he announced, “the company is already active in acquiring land for the second store in Belgrade, as well as in in six other cities in Romania”.

– The urban planning part has been completed in Ljubljana, the land has been bought, and the tender is now in progress. We expect the construction to start in May or June 2017 – Vladislav Lalic said at the Second Serbian Property and Infrastructure Development Conference in Belgrade.

Regarding Bucharest, where IKEA already has a store, the construction of another facility might start in autumn, most probably in September or October, the opening is expected to take place in late 2018, Lalic said.

He reminded that the company had a remarkably ambitious investment program for the next period and that it planned to open 13 facilities in the region in the next ten years.

Aside from the furniture sector, IKEA is known for its shopping centers and retail parks. In total, the group has 59 shopping centers and 4 retail parks in its portfolio (in Europe, Russia, China...). They total around 3.2 million square meters in area and are visited by around 450 million people a year. When compared to around 800 million visitors a year in their stores, it's clear what an important segment this is for IKEA, Lalic said and reminded that these centers had been developed parallel to the stores.

IKEA intends to develop a retail park in Belgrade as well, along with the Bubanj Potok store, which has been mentioned before.

– The decision on this will be made by the end of the year. As it is known, we've bought more land than we need for the store. The retail park should have an area of around 40,000 m2, and the investment is worth around EUR 60-70 million – Vladislav Lalic said.
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