"Our stores remain one of our biggest assets," Ingka said in a statement.

"In particular, the investment will make it possible to renovate and redesign existing stores," said Tolga Öncü, sales director of the holding company, which includes more than 400 of the approximately 500 Ikea stores in the world.

He cited the model of a store in Kuopio, Finland, which was recently upgraded to ship orders made online from the site.

The €3 billion outlay by the end of next year marks an acceleration for Ingka, which had invested €2.1 billion in its new or existing stores between 2019 and 2021.

Significant investments of nearly 1.2 billion euros are planned in London, and Ingka will also continue to invest in markets considered mature, such as Spain and Germany.

Ikea is controlled by a complex series of corporations and foundations headquartered primarily in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.

Accustomed to imposing premises in the suburbs or on the outskirts, the furniture giant had taken a turn in its strategy by opening a first store in the city center in Hamburg in 2014, and in 2019 in Paris a new model with a smaller offer. .

Ikea also plans to open new stores in the city center or close to city centers, notably in Nice this week and in Stockholm this summer.

Initiator of the kit furniture concept, the group created by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943 in a small Swedish town has become a multinational present in around thirty countries.

In early March, Ikea announced the suspension of its important activities in Russia and Belarus, affecting nearly 15,000 employees, 17 stores and three production sites.

This suspension also concerned 47 suppliers in Russia and 10 in Belarus.

"Our activities will remain suspended until further notice," Tolga Öncü told AFP.

© 2022 AFP