It is already known that when the river sounds, it is because it carries water, and in this sense LA VOZ learned yesterday that Ikea, which already has stores in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, will open a new establishment in Lanzarote. Although there is no official confirmation of the opening date, sources close to the home products store reported that it could occur even before the end of this year, around the month of December, since the company's objective is to take advantage of the sales boom that occurs during the Christmas holidays.
In the industrial area
The future Ikea store will be located in the industrial area that is located at the exit of Arrecife in the direction of Costa Teguise, and will have an area of more than 5,000 square meters. The construction work on it began more than a month ago, and both the excavations and the construction of the basement have already been completed. In this sense, the workers are striving to meet the planned deadlines, so that the store can be opened within three and a half months.
Ikea is an international company of Swedish origin, a leader in the market for the distribution of furniture and decorative objects, which offers a wide assortment of household items, with good design, functional and at a good price. The Ikea Group has a total of 202 stores in 32 countries, and in Spain it invoiced 516.5 million euros in the last fiscal year (September 2003 - August 2004), which represents an increase of 33% compared to the previous year. Likewise, forecasts for the coming years predict great growth until reaching 60 million euros in 2007.
2 or 3 new stores per year
According to the company's Expansion Plan, the company wants to open 2 or 3 stores per year in Spain, which would mean an investment of 1,000 million euros until 2010. Thus, the most immediate planned openings, apart from the Lanzarote store, are those of Barakaldo, and an establishment in Asturias, which will open its doors next September. Subsequently, Ikea plans to open new centers in Murcia, Madrid, Málaga, Zaragoza, the Valencian Community, Galicia and Catalonia.
El Corte Inglés will not be installed in Lanzarote, at least for the moment
For its part, the rumors that pointed to the possible opening of a DIY store with the El Corte Inglés brand on the Island are less likely to become reality. In this sense, according to what this newspaper learned from those responsible for the External Relations and Communication department of El Corte Inglés in the Canary Islands, it is not true that Lanzarote is among the company's next expansion projects, which, however, does contemplate other operations on other islands.
A "very green" idea
El Corte Inglés, which currently has three centers on the island of Gran Canaria, and another two in Tenerife, is considering the possibility of entering the DIY market, although according to the Communication department, the idea is still "very green", and in any case it would be a very long-term option.
El Corte Inglés takes its name from a store dedicated to the specialty of children's tailoring, founded in Madrid in 1890. It was located between Preciados, Carmen and Rompelanzas streets. In 1934, Ramón Areces Rodríguez, founder of El Corte Inglés, S.A., bought the tailoring shop, constituted it as a Limited Company, and began his business career. Currently the company has annual revenues from its ordinary activity of 15,049.61 million euros, and profits of 611.46 million euros.
