IKEA to open stores in Philippines, looking for designer

Swedish furniture-maker IKEA will open stores in the Philippines after it found a local partner, a spokesman for its worldwide franchisor said.

Inter IKEA Systems B.V. has awarded the franchise right in the Philippines to a company called Ikano, according to its spokesperson, Josefin Thorell.

Singapore-based IKEA Southeast Asia also posted a job opening on recruitment website LinkedIn for a Manila-based design manager in late January.

IKEA’s simple but sturdy designs and self-assembly products are now familiar in homes around the globe and the retailer is aiming to generate 50 billion euros ($62 billion) in annual revenues by 2020.

Reports of its impending arrival has in recent years stirred excitement on social media.

“We are very happy to confirm that Inter IKEA Systems has taken the decision to open IKEA stores in the Philippines and that the franchise right for the Philippine market has been allocated to Ikano,” Thorell said in an email to ABS CBN News.

The Manila designer will “work close together with the design team and play a decisive role in planning, executing and planning our first IKEA store in the Philippines,” according to the LinkedIn post, which expires on Feb. 28.

Ikano Group is engaged in finance, real estate and retail. It’s marketing manager, Jasmin Cruz, said the company had been registered with the Board of Investments for 2 years.

Ikano Pte Ltd, the Southeast Asian franchisor of IKEA, pre-qualified as a foreign retailer in the Philippines in December 2016, according to a list from the BOI.