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Swedish homeware giant Ikea - famed for its cheap and stylish flatpack furniture - plans to open a store in Auckland within the next two years, the Business Herald has learned.
The firm is said to have engaged Auckland consultants RCG to help it find a site for one of its giant stores.
Sources say the company is seeking a site near Albany and hopes to open its doors in 2008.
Ikea in Australia and Sweden and RCG declined requests for comment.
The arrival of the firm will provide stiff competition for retailers such as Harvey Norman and Freedom Furniture. It employs more than 100,000 people in 34 countries, operating out of huge barns selling furniture, bathrooms and kitchens and everything in between. It is thought the firm's demand for such a huge site is one of the factors that have delayed its entry into this market.
Ikea was founded in 1943 in Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad.
Its name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up.
The sleek and simple furniture designs that have made its reputation came only after competitors prohibited the company from using their designs, because they feared Ikea's growing strength.
