The parent company of furniture retailer Ikea, the Ingka Group, is planning to open several new retail shopping centers in U.S. cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago over the next several years.
The current COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath may seem to be an unlikely time to plan a brick-and-mortar expansion, but there are new opportunities in the retail market, especially for inner-city real estate, according to a report from Reuters.
“We are in a very active search. Maybe it’s a good time to buy now. I’d say it’s more a buyers’ market than a sellers’ market currently in the U.S.,” said Gerard Groener, managing director of Ingka Centres, which owns 45 Ikea shopping centers in Europe, Russia and China. “So, hopefully, we can be successful now, with the timing.”
Groener told Reuters that the company is in talks to buy properties such as old post offices, department stores or existing malls to convert to Ikea stores. Ingka Centres purchased Kings Mall in London earlier this year with plans to re-open in April 2021.
