IKEA to shift purchasing office from Gurugram to Bengaluru

Swedish furniture major IKEA will move its purchasing office to Bengaluru days after opening its biggest store in India in the city.

After vowing ₹3,000 crore of investment in Karnataka and opening India's largest store in Bengaluru's Nagasandra, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has now decided to shift its purchasing office from Gurugram to Bengaluru, starting May 1, 2023, news agency PTI reported.

IKEA opened its store in Bengaluru on June 22. (Bloomberg file photo)

IKEA's purchasing office sources products for its global supply chain from India, which it has been doing since the 1970s. The Swedish firm procures its raw materials from industries, including textiles, mattresses, home accessories, plastic and metal products, in India. IKEA, while speaking about its brand new store in the Karnataka capital, said it aims to source around 50 per cent of its products locally.

IKEA's store in Bengaluru is its fourth in India and the firm has said it wants its purchasing office to be near the other entities.

The home decor and solutions firm has a "relocation policy" which is said to facilitate its existing employees in Gurugram to move to Bengaluru.

"If a co-worker chooses not to move to Bangalore, we will do our utmost to support them in finding job opportunities within IKEA such as IKEA retail India or other IKEA units outside India. It will follow the recruitment process and relocation support as per the relocation policy. If a co-worker will not be able to find a job within IKEA, we will support with external job coaching from our career transition service provider," IKEA said.

(With PTI Inputs)