SHANGHAI — Ikea’s parent has begun construction on a roughly 4.6 million-square-foot mixed-used development here that will include one of its new-concept, Ikea stores.

Ingka Group described the Ikea Livat development as its single largest investment at roughly $1.16 billion dollars. The project will feature a more than 1.3 million-square-foot commercial area, to be filled with about 300 stores, restaurants, entertainment, recreation and other businesses and amenities, including an approximately 269,000-square-foot Ikea store with “a new store experience,” the company said.

Smaller than the roughly 300,000- to 400,000-square-foot boxes in the United States, the Shanghai store won’t have a warehouse and only a small self-service area, the Swedish home furnishings giant said in a release, but instead it will feature more “digital tools” to make the buying process easier, the company said.

For example, customers walking the store will be able to select and pay for products via their mobile phones. The goods then will be readied at customer service for pick up, or consumers can choose delivery service, an Ikea Retail China spokesperson told Furniture Today.

The mixed-use development, Ingka’s second in China, also includes an office building with flex working space that will be used by about 3,000 Ikea employees, making it one of the retailer’s larges offices worldwide.

The opening is slated for the end of 2020.

“By providing more innovative experiences, we hope to bring people in Shanghai and even those from the whole Yangtze River Delta Region a brand new, one-stop shopping experience in meeting, shopping and office work,” said Ding Hui, managing director of Ikea Centres, the Ingka Group business unit developing the project.

(Source: FurnitureToday)