Swedish furniture giant Ikea decided in May to make plans to reopen its store in Kyiv, Forbes Ukraine reported on June 27, citing two managers of shopping centers and two commercial real estate consultants.
Ikea opened its first store in Kyiv's Blockbuster Mall on Feb. 1, 2021. Like other multinational brands, Ikea closed its store when Russia launched its full-scale invasion just over a year later.
The company's "main priority for the resumption of store operations in Kyiv is the safety of our employees and customers," the Ingka Group, which is part of the Ikea group, told Forbes Ukraine in a comment.
Blockbuster Mall "refused to comment due to a non-disclosure agreement," Forbes Ukraine said.
"The return and success of H&M was an important signal for the head office of Ikea, and they also closely followed the recovery of Inditex," one of Forbes Ukraine's sources told the outlet.
H&M reopened in November 2023, while Inditex, a Spanish-owned multinational company that owns Zara and other brands, reopened some of their stores in Kyiv on April 3.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry had confirmed in March that the company would gradually resume operations in Ukraine.
Ikea suspended business in Russia in March 2022 and fully exited the country in 2023.
