IKEA delays expansion into South America until 2022

IKEA has delayed its expansion into South America until 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has slowed construction work.

Its first store on the Continent was still set to open in Santiago, Chile, but a year after it was initially planned, said the company's incoming global franchise boss on Thursday.

Inter IKEA Group in 2018 unveiled plans to enter South America alongside Chile’s Falabella, its first new franchisee in more than a decade, and was aiming to build out at least nine stores and e-commerce operations in Chile, Colombia and Peru over 10 years.

IKEA expansion manager Konrad Gruss was set to become the formal head of franchisor Inter IKEA Systems - a division of Inter IKEA Group - in June.

“There will be some delay. We now have 2022 and that’s also due to the fact construction can’t at the moment be ongoing, and most people are working from home as in many other countries,” Gruss said in an interview.

IKEA was also in the midst of preparing the re-opening of its stores as lockdown restrictions across were beginning to be eased.