Construction interruptions have delayed the expected opening date of the long-awaited Ikea Manila store.
Ikea Southeast Asia has released a short video on LinkedIn summarising the company’s progress in various markets. It says that the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic meant construction had to be suspended.
The new store, the first Ikea in the Philippines and located next to SM’s Mall of Asia, was announced two years ago and due to open this year. No set date has been given as yet, only “by next year”.
Work has now resumed on the site after several weeks of closures due to Covid-19 situation. It appears from the video that the construction is already at the third floor of the project.
Located in the Manila Bay area, the Ikea Pasay City occupies a 67,760sqm area which will make it the biggest Ikea store in the world.
Meanwhile, Ikea says after a review of the Vietnam market, it now plans to open its first store there in Ho Chi Minh City, rather than Hanoi as originally planned. The country’s home-furnishing market is estimated at US$4.4 billion a year, with Ho Chi Minh accounting for a 18 percent share and Hanoi a lesser 11 percent.
The company is also working on other infrastructures at other stores around the region such as the development of a multi-story car park and “foodwalk” at its Mega Bangna store in Bangkok.