For those living in Bahrain, it’s impossible to miss the Ikea building work that has started.

While we are all doing a happy dance at the thought of the world’s largest furniture retailer, Ikea in Bahrain; our glee isn’t just because of the variety and reasonable pricing that is oh so lacking in Bahrain, but also because of the significant contribution to the country’s national economy.



The store, located in Salmabad, just off King Faisal Highway, will be the largest Ikea store in the Gulf region. Set to open in Bahrain mid 2018, Ikea Bahrain will have a total retail area of 37,000 sq m and an investment of BD47 million ($124.76 million).

Housing the largest Ikea of the GCC region in Bahrain, Ikea will generate tremendous business for the economy and provide more than 600 jobs.

Ikea Bahrain store will house a 6,200-sq-m showroom, a 6,000-sq-m market hall for accessories, 5,000 sq m of self-serve area, and 4,000 sq m of full serve area.

It will also have a 2,500-sq-m restaurant, with seating for approximately 800, making it the biggest restaurant in the kingdom.

Customers can take a break from shopping and enjoy Swedish delicacies or local favourites at the restaurant.

And the bistro and Swedish food market, which will facilitate grab-and-go snacks and take-home meals, will take up about 500 sq m of the total area.

The store’s 220-sq-m play facility, called Smaland (named after the small town in Sweden where Ikea started), will ensure that customers have an enjoyable shopping experience while children can play, supervised by Ikea staff, free of charge.

Ikea Bahrain will also have a two level car park with over 1,100 parking spaces facilitating for approximately 1.2 million visitors a year to Ikea Bahrain.

The store is being opened in partnership with Ikea and Saudi Arabia’s Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman Furniture Trading Company, Ikea Saudi Arabia, adding to their existing portfolio of three Ikea stores in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran with a total area of 78,000 sq m employing over 1,300 people.

By @onemorehina



References: Trade Arabia News Service, GDN Online