WORLD-FIRST IKEA CLOSE TO YOU CONCEPT OPENS IN HONG KONG

04/10/21; Inside Retail Asia

Home furnishing giant Ikea has launched the world’s first Ikea Close to You concept store inside the Market Place grocer in Hong Kong’s Discovery Bay.

Spanning more than 3000sqft, Ikea Close to You houses more than 110 home furnishing products together with 120 Swedish signature gourmets ranging from meatballs, salmon, sauces to condiments.

According to Ikea, the new concept focuses on the digital experience, offering a number of solutions such as self-pick-up lockers that support flexible pick-up time and free shipping. The store features a 2-metre-high interactive screen ‘Digital Experience for Furnishing Inspiration’ that provides 50 home-decorating inspirations and the “Swedish Cooking Interactive Screen” which provides free cooking recipes.

The new store was opened alongside Bread Pantry at the Market Place Discovery Bay launched last Friday (October 1). Ikea Close to You is also the retailer’s first store located inside a supermarket.

Owned by Dairy Farm Group, which has the Hong Kong master franchise for Ikea, Market Place is a high-end supermarket chain with stores opened across Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The chain entered Hong Kong in 2007 under the name Market Place by Jasons.

The launch of Market Place Discovery Bay follows the openings of Market Place at Mongkok’s Langham Place and Tuen Mun’s Gold Coast and is part of the brand’s effort to expand its presence in the territory.