Ikea stores are coming soon to 8 new locations in the US

London (CNN) Ikea plans to spend 2 billion euros ($2.19 billion) to expand its furniture empire in the United States in what would be the retailer’s biggest-ever investment in a single country.

Ingka Group, Ikea Retail’s Dutch holding company, said in a statement Thursday that it hopes to open eight large stores and nine smaller “plan and order points” in America over the next three years. The new outlets will create 2,000 jobs, it added.

Ikea plan and order points are aimed at customers who want to talk to a consultant about how to design their home, as well as place orders.

The exact locations of the new U.S. stores have not yet been determined, an Ingka spokesperson told CNN, although the company intends to build its presence on the East and West coasts, investing more in the southern part of the country.

Tolga Öncü, head of Ikea Retail, said the company saw “endless opportunities to grow” in the US.

“More than ever before, we want to increase the density of our presence in the United States, increase our fulfillment capacity and make our selection even more relevant to local customers’ needs and dreams,” he said.

The company already has 51 stores and two plan and order points in America. And new Ikea locations – not covered by the €2 billion investment – ​​are set to open in San Francisco, California and Arlington, Virginia this summer.

Ingka also said it planned to use part of its bumper investment to modernize its existing US Ikea stores to enable them to ship more packages.

Ikea was founded in Sweden in 1943 and is the world’s largest furniture retailer, with a presence in 31 countries. The stores today are run as franchisees, with the Ingka Group as by far the largest franchisee, representing approximately 90% of Ikea’s sales globally.

Öncü told the Financial Times on Thursday that he expected the US to overtake Germany as Ikea’s biggest market in terms of sales in the next few years.

Ingka Group reported sales of 5.5 billion euros ($6 billion) in the United States in its last fiscal year, which ended in August 2022. It took 5.7 billion euros ($6.2 billion) in sales in Germany in the same period.