'Namaste, Welcome to India': Urban Ladder greets IKEA with this sweet message

Aug 9 (AZINS) Swedish home furnishings major IKEA, which opened its first store in India on Thursday, received a sweet welcome by online furniture and home decor company Urban Ladder.

Urban Ladder welcomed IKEA with a Namaste gif. "Namaste @IKEAIndia Welcome to India," tweeted Urban Ladder along with a gif of its staff welcoming the furnishings giant with folded hands.

Urban Ladder, co-founded by Ashish Goel (CEO) and Rajiv Srivatsa (COO) in July 2012, is one of the largest online retail stores of furniture in India. The company delivers its products in all major cities of India. IKEA's entry into Indian market may actually pose a challenge for Urban Ladder and that is why the big-hearted welcome was more significant.

IKEA opened its first store in Hyderabad on Thursday, kicking off its retail journey in India. The company, which has employed 950 people directly and another 1,500 indirectly at its store here, plans to hire 15,000 in the coming years as it expands operations in India.

The IKEA store in Hyderabad is the first of 25 such outlets planned to be set up in India by 2025. In 2013, IKEA received nod from the government to invest Rs 10,500 crore in single-brand retail.

IKEA had originally planned to open its first store in India by 2017, but it was delayed. The opening of its first store here was scheduled for July 19 this year but the company again pushed it back by almost 20 days to August 9, citing quality commitments.

After Hyderabad, IKEA's second store would be in Mumbai next year, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.

Out of the total outlay of Rs 10,500 crore, the company has so far invested Rs 4,500 crore in its different projects in India.

It has invested Rs 1,000 crore on the Hyderabad store alone, which would have a range of around 7,500 products. The store is spread over 13 acres of land and has a built up area of 4 lakh sq ft.