Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
THE sign has gone up and the building and contents are taking shape at one of the most eagerly-awaited stores in the kingdom as IKEA, famous for its ready to-assemble furniture, gets set for its opening this summer.
As reported in GulfWeekly, IKEA Bahrain is being brought to the kingdom by the Al Sulaiman Group, IKEA Saudi Arabia. The Bahrain store will be its biggest in the region and include an 800-seat restaurant. It will house a 6,200sqm showroom, a 6,000sqm market hall for accessories, a 5,000sqm self-serve section and a full service area measuring 4,000sqm.
Fruto Hernandez, IKEA Saudi Arabia & Bahrain property and expansion manager, has been posting images of the store as work progresses on social media. He said: “Something big, blue and beautiful is coming to Bahrain soon.”
He praised the teamwork involved it getting the project close to fruition. “It is always amazing to work in a place or on projects where experience meets ambition and this is absolutely one of them.”
There is no official opening date for the store, located in Salmabad, but this summer has always been the target. The store will have a sit-down bistro and Swedish food market, for grab-and-go snacks and take-home meals, will take up about 500sqm of the total area.
The store will also feature a 220sqm play facility, called Smaland, named after the tiny town in Sweden where IKEA started, allowing children to be taken care of by staff, free of charge. There will also be 1,100 parking spaces spread over two levels.
