Swedish giant Ikea to expand into Balkans

TIRANA, July 13ؔhe world’s largest furniture retailer, Sweden’s Ikea, is considering investing billions of euro in new stores in Balkan countries depending on the pace of the region’s economic recovery, Reuters reported.
Ikea eyes three or four shopping centers in Serbia, two in Croatia, and one in Slovenia, Reuters quoted Per Kaufmann, general director of Ikea’s operations in Russia and eastern Europe, as saying, “Then it might be, if you look further on, it might be Albania,” he said.
In the Balkans, Ikea already has one store in the Romanian capital Bucharest.
“This is still a region where we have not invested, because of the war and because of whatever else happened. But now we have intensified. We are pretty far along in Zagreb, so we hope that will come through,” Kaufmann said, adding that Ikea usually invests about 250 million to 300 million euro in a new store.
The pace of investment in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia will depend on how quickly the region, which is generally in recession or heading that way, recovers, he added.
Kaufmann said that the store in the Croatian capital Zagreb could open in 2011 or in 2012. Plans for opening an Ikea chain in Belgrade soon, have recently hit a snag, he added.