so in the midst of a long national holiday : namely Korean ThanksGiving whose dates were elongated to a whopping five day-WeekEnd due to a new Substitute National Holiday System in effect from this year 2014, seems like a good time to update developments concerning the opening of Swedish iKEA’s first outlet in the Korean Peninsula .
in January 2012 I introduced current iKEA status in South Korea : namely small independent brick-and-mortar store-fronts selling selective iKEA product, mostly smaller accessories and the on-set of On-Line malls selling larger furnitures also, as word was spreading iKEA itself was poised to launch on the Korean Peninsula . this “Post” will updated on the opening of its first Official outlet and after it does : will put up a dedicated “Page” on Top Menu, like Cosco Korea above .
[ TimeLine ]
- December 2011 : after a year of rumours of the Swedish landing, a local company named iKEA Korea was formed .
- January 2012 : it was announced the first iKEA outlet will open by the end of 2014 near GwangMyeong KTX Station – in a large space anticipated to be the largest store in Asia .
- December 2013 : iKEA purchased land in GoYang for its second outlet .
- January 2014 : again purchased land in far-Eastern GangDongGu district in the Capital of SEOUL, for their third store .
- while all three locations above are around the out-skirts of the Capital of SEOUL : South-West, North-West and far-East respectively, iKEA seems to be looking for more land at the South-Eastern tip of the Korean Peninsula for consumers of the Port City of Busan or Pusan .
- March 12nd ~ 30th 2014 : a temporary show-room was open in GaRoSuGil – a narrow alley between ApGuJeong and ShinSa Subway Stations in Southern SEOUL, cuddled with tiny import boutiques and fusion eateries .
their Official WebSite is up but merely there to fill-in space, as in essence they only mention :
- fore-most about their Global company,
- that iKEA’s first Korean outlet will open at end of 2014
- and will be located in vicinity of GwangMyeong KTX Station
.. all known for a while from major news clips .
[ LOCATION MAP ] at first glance it may seem like Belinda Carlisle’s classic Eighties song ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ forming, with CostCo already open at North-end of GwangMyeong KTX bullet train Station, and Lotte Premium OutLet planned to open together on its way to iKEA’s construction site, plus Best Western Hotel to open next year to handle full-time shoppers . but there is a good reason to this, as when I first visited this station built April 2004 in the middle of nowhere, that no one really needed – was built in glorious glass-dome . it is huge like a space station but virtually empty as a perfect example of wasted government funds .
click to enlarge :
larger view on Google Map :
[ LINK ]
12.1.21 On-Line Stores Selling iKEA Accessories through South Korea
and Early Prospect on Opening of Official iKEA OutLet in GwangMyeong KTX Bullet Train Station
http://koreaexpatblog.com/outlet/when-where-ikea-furniture-store-open-gwangmyeong-paju-south-korea/
Official iKEA Korea WebSite
http://www.ikea.kr/ms/ko_KR/index.do
– Korea Expat BLog –
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