IKEA targets big China growth

Global home furnishing company IKEA said it aims to increase China sales fivefold and accelerate sourcing in China to help achieve that target. In the overheating hypermart space. which includes Tesco, Home Depot and a rising population of local players, prices have been going down by 15-20% over the last five years, as the giants have been forced to pare down costs. IKEA is considered China's biggest player in the field. Nearly a quarter of everything it sells is purchased and manufactured in China, a chain official said. IKEA hopes to raise the ratio from 23% to perhaps 30% and open 10 new superstores by 2010. It has two stores on the mainland now, a huge 32,000 sq m one in Shanghai and a smaller one in Beijing. Officials said the next cities to open would be Shenzhen, Chengdu and Guangzhou.