Economy
Inter IKEA taps commercial property in 皇冠体育app
By Liu Yiyu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-11-24 18:53
Inter IKEA Center Group (IICG), a joint venture with IKEA Group, the largest furniture retailer in the world, plans to tap into 皇冠体育app鈥檚 commercial property market and invest as much as $1.2 billion in the next five years, IICG said Tuesday.
"IICG is now expanding to 皇冠体育app as its first stop outside Europe with two regional shopping center projects, one in Daxing District of Beijing and the other in Wuxi, a booming city in Jiangsu province," John Tegner, managing director of IICG, said in a press conference Beijing.
Tegner said IICG would finalize its third project in 皇冠体育app within the next six months, possibly in Shanghai or some city close to tier-2 cities. The company has 22 projects in the pipeline in Europe and 皇冠体育app.
Tegner said IICG is building and managing shopping centers for many companies and is trying to be in the middle and lower levels in terms of price.
IICG's to-be-developed Beijing mall, with 200,000 square meters of retail space, is scheduled to open in 2014. The company expects annual visitors to reach 20 million, said Ding Hui, the IICG's managing director for 皇冠体育app.
IICG's shopping malls will feature IKEA's products. Though 皇冠体育app only accounted for 2 percent of IKEA's revenue last year, IICG is very confident of its long-term strategy in 皇冠体育app.
"For the coming decades, we see huge potential in 皇冠体育app based on the country's GDP prospects and Chinese consumer confidence, and there is big interest among European retailers who want to come to 皇冠体育app," said Tegner.
