IKEA Says Pune Priority Market, Retailer Set To Open 37,000 Sq Ft Store In Mall

Swedish furniture retailer Ikea on Saturday termed Pune a "priority market", a day after reports that the brand had leased a 37,000-sq ft space in a mall in the city.

Ikea India Private Limited has leased a 37,529 sq ft plot area in the Phoenix Marketcity mall in Lohegaon's Viman Nagar, as per documents accessed by real estate data analytics firm CRE Matrix.

The Swedish company, which entered India through a store in Hyderabad in 2018, has leased the Pune property from Vamona Developers.

The lease is for 59 months, and Ikea has committed to pay a monthly rent of Rs 38 lakh initially, which will get enhanced to Rs 42.70 lakh from the fourth year of the lease, as per the deed.

The space is on the ground floor of the mall, which is run by Phoenix Mills.

This will be Ikea's maiden physical presence in Pune, which hosts a slew of information technology companies and global capability centres.

An Ikea spokesperson said it launched an e-commerce presence in Maharashtra's second-largest city in January 2020 and added that many Punekars are buying from an Ikea store in Navi Mumbai, given the proximity.

"Pune continues to be a priority market for us, and we are now excited to bring a more dynamic IKEA experience through a true omnichannel presence in the city- starting with a city store," the Ikea spokesperson added.

At present, Ikea has a physical presence in Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru through large format stores, two of the smaller 'city stores' in Mumbai's Worli and Pacific Mall in West Delhi.