IKEA to resume retail operations in Ukraine in 2025
The opening of IKEA stores in Ukraine is expected in 2025, the date will be officially announced by IKEA, said Interfax-Ukraine Dmytro Lashin, COO of the Lavina Mall and Blockbuster Mall trade centers.
"There is very encouraging information that this will definitely happen this year, but there are two scenarios. The first one is that hostilities will cease in Ukraine, and accordingly this will happen very, very quickly. If hostilities do not cease, the opening will take a little longer. They are already physically ready," Lashin said.
According to him, the retailer carries out daily actions to physically update the store (cleaning, partial repairs, replacing signs, removing old goods, etc.).
As Oksana Donska, a member of the board of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers, previously reported to Interfax-Ukraine, IKEA also already has orders for Ukrainian manufacturers "to purchase a fairly wide range of furniture".
As reported, in May 2020, the official launch of the IKEA online store in Ukraine took place in parallel with pick-up points in the Kyiv shopping centers Auchan Rive Gauche and Metro Cash & Carry. In December 2020, the third pick-up point was opened in the Lavina Mall shopping center. In 2021, the first physical store was opened on the second floor of the Blockbuster Mall shopping center in Kyiv.
IKEA is a Dutch manufacturing and retail group founded in Sweden, one of the world's largest retail chains selling furniture and home goods. It is part of Ingka Group. IKEA (Inter IKEA Group) saw its retail sales fall by 5.3% to EUR 45.1 billion in the 2024 financial year ending August 31. The company opened 56 stores last year and operates a total of 400 stores of varying sizes and 174 planning and ordering points.