IKEA to open 1,000-seater restaurant in Hyderabad store

IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, will be opening its first India store spread across 400,000 sq.ft. in Hyderabad in December 2017.
The store will feature 7,500 furniture and home furnishing products and a 1,000-seater restaurant serving healthy and nutritious Indian and Swedish cuisine. It will also have a play area for children and a day-care centre for children of its employees.
Business Model
The company, which received Government approval in 2013 to invest Rs 10,500 crore in India under the 100 per cent foreign direct investment route, plans to open its second store in Mumbai. And going further, it plans to open 25 stores in nine Indian cities.
However, the size of all the stores will be different just like its other 328 stores around the globe. However, one thing that will be common will be the business model of the furniture wing as well as the restaurant.
Talking about the business model of the restaurant, Country Food Manager, IKEA India, Henrik Österström told Indiaretailing on the sidelines of Foodzania: “We are planning to serve healthy food at affordable prices to attract more people to our store.”
He further added, “As the restaurant will open within half an hour of opening of the store, we may give coffee for free and then thereby attract people little bit earlier than the normal time.”
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What’s on the Menu?
The Swedish company’s restaurants, which are an integral part of the store, are known for their meatballs. The meatball meal comprises of 20-25 per cent of the the total IKEA restaurant business.
However, in India, the furniture giant will be replacing their traditional Swedish Meatballs with Chicken and Vegetable Balls.
Österström revealed, “We won’t be serving the traditional meatballs just like the rest of the world. We will only be serving Chicken and Veg Balls in a traditional way with mashed potato, cream sauce and lingonberries.”
Other highlights of the menu from Swedish cuisine will include salmon, cinnamon buns, croissant, blueberry jam and cloudberry.
They have also localised the menu for India and will be serving various local dishes like Hyderabadi Biryani, Dal Makhani and Indian bread to name a few.
He revealed, “We will never force anyone to eat Swedish food, there will always be an option of either eating global or local food.”
The restaurant will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner and tiffin and snacks along with beer at affordable prices.
READ MORE: IKEA to integrate its stores with online trade in India
Pricing Strategy
IKEA plans to keep the price of dishes at these restaurants low.
Österström said, “The prices of the dishes available at the restaurant will be affordable. We plan to have the lowest prices of the comparable products.”
He further added, “Our local range will be open to price comparison whereas the global range is an exclusive range which the consumer won’t be able to find anywhere else.”
Globally, the restaurant business accounts for 5.4 per cent of the total revenue of IKEA whereas in India, the furniture giant is expecting the restaurant to contribute 10 per cent of the total revenue.
READ MORE: IKEA to integrate its store with online trade in India