Manufacturer Swed House (Belarusian analogue of IKEA) may open ten stores in Moscow in 2023. said TASS head of the Union of shopping centers Bulat Shakirov.
“Our union has signed a cooperation agreement with Swed House, which produces products similar to IKEA, to open 10 stores in Moscow with an area of up to 1,000 square meters in 2023 m,” Shakirov said. .
According to him, up to 50 stores are expected to open across Russia in the coming years, and the union has also started negotiations on the rental of Swed House premises in Mega shopping centers.
Shakirov noted that Swed House has factories in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and China. The Belarusian company is engaged in the production of furniture, textiles and household items, the range and list of which is similar to IKEA products. Some goods in the Belarusian network, notes the head of the organization, are cheaper.
Shakirov added that the union had already received more than 100 applications from malls wishing to host Swed House. “It does not matter where it will be located – in the center of Moscow, on the Moscow Ring Road or in residential areas. In any case, furniture, household items, textiles will be in demand,” he explained.
IKEA announced its withdrawal from Russia in 2022 after the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine. The Swedish company has put factories in the Leningrad, Kirov and Novgorod regions up for sale. In mid-January, RBC, citing sources, wrote that the Ingka Group (owner of the IKEA chain and the Mega shopping center) was looking for buyers for its Russian real estate. According to the publication’s interlocutors, negotiations are already underway with at least two potentials, but so far at the initial stage. The company’s final decision on the sale has yet to be made, RBC notes. Deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov also said the government commission had approved a deal to sell three IKEA factories in Russia. The buyers, he said, were the manufacturer of worktops and kitchen fronts Slotex, as well as the Luzales company, which produces wood. He did not specify the amount of the transaction.
