IKEA to open China’s biggest foreign-owned warehouse

IKEA to open China’s biggest foreign-owned warehouse IKEA has begun construction on a massive logistics facility in Shanghai that will serve its Asia-Pacific markets, the China Daily reported this week.
   The $150 million facility, with warehousing capacity of 300,000 cubic meters, will be IKEA’s largest in the Asia-Pacific region. It will be located in Shanghai’s suburban Fengxian District, close to the new Yangshan deepwater container port. The distribution center will also be the biggest foreign-owned warehousing facility in China and is the second distribution facility for the Swedish retailer in Shanghai.
   David Hood, director of Ikea Asia-Pacific distribution services division, told China Daily that Ikea plans to make Shanghai its warehousing and distribution center for the Asia-Pacific region.
   Last year, the company announced plans to open 10 stores in China by 2010 to tap into the growing domestic consumer base. It currently has outlets in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.