Ikea Philippines preps bricks and mortar record

Ikea is gearing up to launch its biggest ever store.

This is situated in Philippines and set to open in the third or fourth quarter of this year, with the Ikea Philippines e-commerce site and a Facebook page making their debut beforehand.

“News of the word mark going up on our building made front page news and generated 570,000 views on Instagram,” the retailer said in a LinkedIn post.

“After quite some years of establishing ourselves in the wonderful Philippines, and a lot of construction, we will open very soon,” Christian Rojkjaer, Managing Director, Ikea Southeast Asia & Mexico, added.

The store will measure 65,000 square metres. Two of its five floors will be for bricks and mortar retail and the rest will be allocated for a warehouse and a call centre that will handle the online side of the business.

Escape the clutter

Ikea recently launched an augmented reality ‘escape room’ on Snapchat.

The campaign will be available throughout March.

The experience takes place in a miniature model of a bedroom that can be superimposed on a tabletop, floor or other flat surface through a smartphone camera.

Users can record their solution to the puzzle and share it with friends through Snapchat’s stories feature.

“Getting organised is hard. It can be overwhelming, frustrating, and, ironically, it can get messy,” Ikea, which previously ventured into the AR space with Ikea Place, says in an online post.

“So why not furnish your way to (virtual) freedom? Fix your clutter problems one storage solution at a time with an interactive game that helps you master the art of putting clutter in its place – literally.”