Azernews.Az

Swedish furniture giant IKEA is to build around 20 small stores with a floorspace of up to 5,000 sq m across Moscow, as part of its strategy of reaching customers across the Russian capital, Izvestia daily said on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.

The Moscow city government has offered IKEA sites on the city's Third Transport Ring and former industrial zones, Moscow Trade and Services Department head Alexei Nemeryuk said.

"Understanding Moscow's specifics, IKEA has developed a mini-format [for its stores]," he said, adding the Moscow government was currently drawing up plans for the capital's retail sites.

"The distribution of various retail formats - hypermarkets, convenience shops, marketplaces, etc., - must be even along the entire territory of the city, so that Muscovites will not have to travel all the way across Moscow to a store," he said.

IKEA already has three of its traditional large (25-30,000 sq m) stores in Moscow Region and ten others across the country, according to the company's website.

IKEA would not directly confirm the company's plans to build smaller-format stores in Moscow.

"We are seeking new stores to be located within a walk from a metro station and public transport routes to come closer to our customers," IKEA press secretary Maria Tikhonova said.

"Our work in the near future will focus on the construction of three detached IKEA stores in Moscow Region. The size of these stores may start around 20,000 sq m.," she added.