Swedish furniture multinational Ikea will open its first store in Mexico in the capital next year.

Malcolm Pruys, country retail manager for Ikea México, told a press conference yesterday that the company plans to open a store in eastern Mexico City in the fall of 2020. It will be called Ikea Oceanía, he said.

Oceanía is an area of the capital near the Benito Juárez International Airport.

The chain, the world’s largest furniture retailer, will also sell its products online in Mexico, Pruys said.

The country manager said in an interview that Ikea is planning to open more stores in other Mexican cities but didn’t specify when.

“We’re setting a reasonably aggressive expansion plan,” Pruys said.

The Mexico City store will be medium-sized, offering customers a range of 7,500 products. It will also house a 650-seat Ikea restaurant, where both Swedish and Mexican dishes will be on the menu.

Ikea México retail project leader Annie Chandler said the store will employ between 300 and 350 people. A separate e-commerce warehouse will also be set up.

Executives from the company met yesterday with President López Obrador, who according to Pruys, was pleased by Ikea’s confidence in Mexico.

“There is great movement in Mexico around cleaning up corruption,” he said. “We think there’s a big opportunity for Mexico’s economy to continue to grow.”

Plans to launch in Mexico began four years ago, while Ikea announced late last year that it also plans to enter other Latin American markets including Chile, Colombia and Peru.

The expansion strategy is designed to offset increased competition in its core markets of Europe and the United States.

Ikea has 427 stores in 52 countries.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Reuters (en)