IKEA Singapore is opening a third outlet at Jem in Jurong and is hiring 200 people, the Swedish furniture giant announced on Oct. 6.

The store, the third outlet here, is slated to open in the second quarter of 2021.

It will be three storeys in total and span around 6,500sqm.

Why IKEA still doing okay

IKEA noted that stores were largely able to continue selling online during long closures.

"By the end of the financial year, customers had placed more than 525,00 online orders and rung up S$135 million in Web sales - more than double the company's e-commerce turnover from the previous year," it said.

Continue to recruit staff despite lockdown

The expansion comes despite a 7.4 per cent fall in IKEA's revenue for its nine Southeast Asian stores in the 12 months to Aug. 31 this year.

The stores posted S$966 million in sales after facing closures of up to two-and-a-half months.

IKEA's South-east Asia and Mexico operations retained all its workers throughout the lockdowns and will continue to recruit staff.

IKEA South-east Asia and Mexico is one of 12 IKEA franchisees around the world.

IKEA's turnover

Ikea's turnover in Singapore was S$304 million, about 10 per cent down from 2019.

IKEA South-east Asia and Mexico operates stores in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, as well as the portfolio of Ikano Centres with some 1,500 tenants.

When income from its five Ikea-anchored shopping centres that are operated by Ikano Centres is factored in, total turnover for the year comes in at S$1.1 billion, or S$90 million less than the previous year.

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