22|10|2009

Ikea plans to create 20,000 new Spanish jobs

Ikea has penciled in a 2,000 million euro investment and the creation of 20,000 jobs in Spain over the next six years, where it plans to open twelve new stores, nine in their own commercial complexes, according to sources at the furniture and decoration company.

The Swedish multinational’s expansion plan, involving the opening of an average of two stores a year to 2015, will double the size of its network in the Spanish market. It currently has eleven points of sale in the country.

The next stores to be opened, scheduled for 2010, will be in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) and La Coruña, likely to be followed in 2011 by stores in Alcorcón (restructuring of the current store) and Valladolid, and a center in Sabadell (Barcelona) in 2012.

The thirteen Ikea stores in Spain (11) and Portugal (2) had a combined turnover of 1,411 million euros in the 2009 fiscal year – from the 1^st of September 2008 to the 31^st of August 2009 – which is a fall of 3.3% in comparison with the previous year. The stores, which have workforce of 7,800, received 36.5 million visits, a 1.5% increase.