IKEA store breaks ground in Abu Dhabi

Ground broken on new Abu Dhabi flagship store.

Aldar and Al-Futtaim today broke ground on the latest Ikea store in the Middle East on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island project.

Al Futtaim, which owns the franchise for Ikea in the UAE and Aldar, the developer of Yas Island, said that the flagship store would be a focus of the destination’s attraction, with a completion time estimated at around 12 months.

Executives from both companies revealed that the store will have a total sales are of almost 20,000m², with parking for 1,500 cars, plus the usual F&B offerings and a play area.

"The Yas Island Ikea store will be a complete family destination and serve the concept with its full service-warehouse. We have already determined the ideal store size and depth of range and if all goes well we’re hoping to be up-and-running within one year from today," said Al-Futtaim’s retail group director Mile Franicevic.

"It’s a great honour to celebrate this momentous occasion with our colleagues from Al-Futtaim and Ikea,” commented Aldar CCO Mohammed Al Mubarak.

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“We are committed to bringing the very best international brands to Yas Island and all its retail developments; the start of construction on the Middle East's finest Ikea store is a great milestone in achieving this goal."

Franicevic continued: "This groundbreaking event clearly signals Ikea's long-term plans of being part of the UAE's high growth area.

“It is also an enormous milestone for Ikea which will be one of the first globally recognised retailers to operate from Yas Island."

Al-Futtaim claimed that they expected the store to attract around 1.3 million visitors in its first year of operation.