IKEA says there's a 'definite need' to open more locations in the Philippines

IKEA Philippines is set to open more branches across the country in the coming years, with more stores planned outside Metro Manila after the opening of its branch in Pasay City, the biggest in the world.

According to IKEA Philippines manager Georg Platzer, more stores across the country are "certainly" needed given the Philippine demographic estimated at 110 million, and the development of more urban areas moving forward.

"Expansion is always part of IKEA's business. This is just the beginning, I would say, opening IKEA Pasay and e-commerce in one moment, we certainly will have a need for more stores. This is a big market for us," he said in an online interview.

"The Philippines is going to have 130 million people by 2030, right, with a very fast growing middle class, social class, which is exactly our target group. The urban areas are growing, there's a lot of developments happening in many different areas, not only in greater Manila but also in other cities around the Philippines," he added.

Among the possible areas for expansion named by Platzer are Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, and Iloilo.

"We have ideas to give people in the provinces and also in such remote areas like Baguio is -- considering that it's up in the mountains -- the option to get in touch with IKEA products. I'm not talking about the same store size as we will build here in Pasay City, that would be exaggerated," said Platzer.

"That will definitely be much too big but you know, there's global interest with market relevance from us as we call them, and we think about how we could meet or how we could give access to this part of the Philippines," he added.

Platzer noted, however, that for now, the focus remains on the opening of the Pasay store, which is expected on the third quarter of 2021. Under a partnership with the SM Group, IKEA will lease out a 65,000 square meter area in the Mall of Asia Complex.

"There's definitely a need for us to open more locations in the Philippines but you know, where we will be and when, this is still open. We first need now to get a foothold. We need to open the doors of our first store to see what is going to work, what needs to be reshaped in a way, we need to straighten the lines, we're gonna learn a lot after we start operating," said Platzer. —KBK, GMA News