Ikea plans to invest €5.8bn over the next three years in real estate developments built around retail stores, despite the sector’s struggles with the transition to online sales.
The company’s property division, Ingka Centres, currently owns €9.5bn of real estate but aims to increase that by more than half, including €3bn of new mixed-use city centre developments with Ikea stores in Europe, Asia and North America.
Gerard Groener, global managing director of Ingka Centres, formerly known as Ikea Centres, said the group had researched the property market and customer behaviour, resulting in “a whole new way of thinking around shopping centres”.
