IKEA opens India's first store in Hyderabad

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], Aug 09 (ANI): Customers thronged IKEA's first store in India as it was inaugurated in Hyderabad on Thursday.

John Achillea, IKEA's Managing Director for Telangana, Telangana's IT Minister K. T. Rama Rao and other key individuals of the Sweden-based furniture retail company inaugurated the store.

Speaking to ANI, Achillea said, "I am so excited today, we can see so many customers visiting in the building. It's just a phenomenal feeling. We have every product under one roof, so whether you are looking for a sofa, bed, children's furniture, or home accessories for every room, it's all under one roof."

He further stated that the store would house 7,500 products and will be operational from 10 am to 11 pm every day of the year.

Meanwhile, IKEA's food manager for India, Henrik Osterstrom, said, "I am super delighted that finally, the store has opened, we were working on it since 2013. We have decided that food is important for IKEA and it is important for India as well, so that's why we have the biggest restaurant in the Hyderabad store."

"We have two kinds of dishes available; one is with the unique Swedish identity and local dishes from India. Everyone in Hyderabad likes biryani so we included that, along with dal makhani, samosas and other things as well," he added.

The restaurant can accommodate nearly a thousand people and is one of the biggest restaurants among all IKEA's in-store restaurants worldwide.

Customers who visited the IKEA store said that they had heard a lot about it, with some saying they had been waiting since the past six months for the store to open, expressing their delight over visiting the world-renowned furniture retail chain. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI