This Day, That Year

Item from March 7, 1999, in China Daily: Consumers look at imported household goods at the Beijing outlet of Swedish furniture giant Ikea.

Unlike furniture-only retailers, Ikea also deals in other goods that complement the use of furniture and promote its sales. ...

In addition to outlets in Beijing and Shanghai opened last year, Ikea plans to build more stores in China.

Ikea has expanded rapidly in China since the opening of its first store in Shanghai in 1998.

It now has 21 stores in 16 cities, and the retail giant says it will open three new stores every year.

From September 2015 to August, Ikea China had sales revenues of 11.7 billion yuan ($1.69 billion), with an year-on-year increase of 19.4 percent.

About 83 million customers visited Ikea stores during the period, the company said.

In September, Ikea launched its e-commerce business in Shanghai, which sells all of its ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances and home accessories.

It is the company's first online sales attempt in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company is also opening Ikea megamalls. A megamall is a shopping mall with an Ikea store in it.

In December, Ikea Centres China, the company's megamalls unit, won its bid for a piece of land in Changning district of Shanghai to build its fifth megamall in the country.

The mall will comprise 150,000 square meters of retail space and another 60,000 sq m of office space.

Beginning 2020, Ikea plans to open one megamall every year.