First Indian Ikea store opens

Ikea's store, which opened in the southern city of Hyderabad, is the first of 25 outlets the Swedish furniture giant hopes to have across India, a country of 1.25 billion people, by 2025.

When the doors of the first store opened on Thursday, customers were greeted by Ikea staff members in blue-and-yellow company polo shirts, with employees waving Indian and Swedish flags.

The opening ceremony was graced by a number of dignitaries, including Sweden's ambassador to India, Klas Molin, and KT Rama Rao, the IT minister of the local state of Telangana.

Something for every taste

Ikea, known for its self-assembly products, faces a tough challenge in India where people are not used to having to put together furniture themselves.

The Swedish company has tweaked its offerings to suit Indian tastes, starting with the restaurant where its famous meatballs will be chicken or vegetarian instead of the usual beef and pork.

Alongside standard Ikea furniture like Billy bookshelves, the retailer offers locally relevant products like masala boxes, Indian frying pans called tawas and rice cake makers.

There are also more than 1,000 products under 200 rupees ($2.92, €2.52) to satisfy customers "who have big aspirations for their homes and small wallets," as store manager John Achillea put it.

hg/jd (dpa, Reuters)