Ikea to invest 3 million euros in its shops in Catalonia

Badalona (ACN).-Swedish furniture multinational IKEA is to invest 3 million euros at its two shops in Catalonia. The shops are in Badalona and l’Hospitalet del Llobregat, near Barcelona. The company has made the announcement on the same day that Badalona’s store celebrates its 15th anniversary. The shop in Badalona, the first IKEA store in Spain, and the store in l’Hospitalet will be expanded to meet a growing demand.

In Badalona, IKEA will expand its restaurant. The area will be twice as big as now, and would allow more than 600 people to eat at the superstore. The new restaurant will be built on top of the warehouse, and won’t require any changes to the shop. The company aims to reduce the long queues in the restaurant on the busiest days. The store in l’Hospitalet will see its warehouse and auto-service spaces expanded. The total investment by IKEA in these two shops would be 3 million euros.

New stores

IKEA has also confirmed that it will go ahead with its expansion plans for 2010-2015. The company plans to open a new superstore in Sabadell in the summer of 2012. This will be its third shop in Catalonia, and would mean an investment of 60 million euros and the creation of up to 400 new jobs.

IKEA also plans to open a new shop outside the central region. The new store will be opened in Tarragona, in the south, or in Girona, in the north by 2015. However, IKEA has not confirmed yet which of the two regions will be the first to have its own store. The new store would also create 400 jobs. IKEA has said that the city not chosen in 2015 will be considered for future expansions.

IKEA’s 2010 revenues were 1.25 billion euros. The figure is 8% higher than in 2009. IKEA employs 6.800 people in Spain, 60% of which are women.