IKEA'S shopping-centre business is spending £170 million to buy and upgrade a London mall in its first foray into Britain, betting it can win over a nation increasingly doing its shopping online.
Ingka Centres, an arm of the world's biggest furniture retailer, said it would put an Ikea store at the heart of the 27,000 sq m Kings Mall in London's Hammersmith district. It bought the mall from Schroder UK Real Estate Fund. The move comes as Britain's store groups struggle, with many outlets closing as shoppers opt to spend more of their money online."We believe we can upgrade assets in good locations and Kings Mall is a great example of this," Ingka Centres' chief executive officer Gerard Groener said in a statement.