Is IKEA coming to Pakistan?

Is IKEA coming to Pakistan? Where will IKEA open its stores in Pakistan first? Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad or where? How big the stores will be and would the prices be like of Pakistanis standard or would it be ultra luxury store out of reach of most of Pakistanis?

There is lots of confusion surrounding whether the Swedish business is coming to Pakistan or not this year. In recent development ambassador deletes the tweet after sharing news of IKEA coming to Pakistan. Also BOL, MoC, and SECP are unaware of such development or they are not sharing any news about it. It might just very well be a rumor circulating on WhatsApp and social media of Pakistan. Disappointment is deafening on the social media as people learn that IKEA might not be coming after all.

IKEA is a multinational conglomerate that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories, among other useful goods and occasionally home services. IKEA was founded almost 80 years ago by a young lad who grew his business worldwide through sheer hard work and now IKEA is everywhere except, well, Pakistan.  Personally, I really don’t care as I believe that still small and medium businesses in Pakistan should have a first go.

You know what it’s fine because Instagram adverts have been on hand to remind me of all the amazing stuff we can here. Also I hate assembling and its really hard to assemble IKEA stuff. Even a simple computer table takes ages. I know Indians are crazy about IKEA. When IKEA unveiled its Indian store in Hyderabad on Aug. 9, 2018, the southern Indian city gave it a roaring welcome. In the first week of its launch, the Swedish furniture giant saw an average of 28,000 visitors per day.

In Pakistan, you are also going to see the same number of visitors but may be less buyers. A year on, 4 million shoppers have visited IKEA’s Hyderabad store, according to the company but the sales are still low. So if IKEA does something about assembly of furniture, they are welcome from my side. I know they have such option but that’s pricey. There are customers who are willing to assemble the furniture by themselves and those who aren’t, so IKEA should just make it equal for all.