Ikea has begun opening new stores with smaller footprints in Southeast Asia's regional cities as the world's top furniture seller reaches for the growing middle class in those emerging economic centers.

The Swedish home furnishings juggernaut will have compact stores by 2021 in Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Udon Thani and other Thai cities with populations mostly under 200,000. Unlike their full-size counterparts, these locations will not keep large furnishings in stock. Instead, those items will be delivered as needed from larger stores in major cities.

One such location already operates in the southern Thailand city of Phuket. Opening the roughly 2,600-sq.-meter shop cost just 175 million baht ($5.6 million) -- a mere one-thirtieth the cost of Ikea's full-scale store on the outskirts of Bangkok.

At the heart of the Phuket store, amid the shelves, cabinets and couches, sits a bay of computers. After surveying floor models on-site, customers sit down to order furniture and accessories online. Their purchases arrive from the Bangkok store two to three days later, ready for pickup at the Phuket location. Customers can even have orders delivered to their homes for an extra fee.

"Ordering is easy -- the staff help you out," said one customer shopping for a desk.

Ikea has begun opening new stores with smaller footprints in Southeast Asia's regional cities as the world's top furniture seller reaches for the growing middle class in those emerging economic centers.

The Swedish home furnishings juggernaut will have compact stores by 2021 in Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Udon Thani and other Thai cities with populations mostly under 200,000. Unlike their full-size counterparts, these locations will not keep large furnishings in stock. Instead, those items will be delivered as needed from larger stores in major cities.

One such location already operates in the southern Thailand city of Phuket. Opening the roughly 2,600-sq.-meter shop cost just 175 million baht ($5.6 million) -- a mere one-thirtieth the cost of Ikea's full-scale store on the outskirts of Bangkok.

At the heart of the Phuket store, amid the shelves, cabinets and couches, sits a bay of computers. After surveying floor models on-site, customers sit down to order furniture and accessories online. Their purchases arrive from the Bangkok store two to three days later, ready for pickup at the Phuket location. Customers can even have orders delivered to their homes for an extra fee.

"Ordering is easy -- the staff help you out," said one customer shopping for a desk.

(Source:asia.nikkei.com)