A Critical Analysis of the Strategy Development Process of IKEA - Term Paper Example

? STRATEGIES AND OPORTUNITIES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The provided report is a critical analysis of the strategy development process of IKEA. In the analysis, all standard strategic management tools have been used in identifying and analysing the most important strategic choices the company made and its current strategic positioning. The analysis indicates that the most adequate direction for the company is its further market expansion into the emerging markets of Asia. The recommended approach is a market development strategy that does not radically change the current expansion plans of IKEA in Asia. Table of Contents Introduction – Company background 3 Analysis of IKEA’s Business Model and its Strategic Positioning (Question 1) 3 IKEA’s Internationalisation Strategy 4 The internationalisation in the USA (question 2) 5 Current Asian markets (China and Japan)(question 3) 6 Further Asian Expansion (question 4) 8 Current Business Environment (question 5) 9 PESTEL 9 Industry analysis 10 SWOT 11 TOWS 13 References 14 Appendix 1 – The IKEA Concept 16 APPENDIX 2 Ikea’s International presence 19 Introduction – Company background Founded in 1943 by 17-year-old  in Sweden, IKEA is named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Smaland, South Sweden). Today, IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer, having pioneered the concept of selling furniture in kits that are later assembled by customers in their own home (IKEA 2011). With its base in Sweden, the company retails affordable flat-pack furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in its 253 stores spread over 24 countries at the end of the 2008 financial year. According to IKEA’s data, the company had worldwide sales of about €23.1 billion in the 2008/09 fiscal year – Figure 1 (IKEA 2011). Contrary to popular wisdom, IKEA prides itself on not having products specific to different countries, rather it responds to local tastes by adjusting the type and range of its products available in each market (Thompson and Martin 2005). Analysis of IKEA’s Business Model and its Strategic Positioning (Question 1) At the most basic level, it can be argued that IKEA follows a focus differentiation strategy (Porter 1980). IKEA sells a lifestyle that signifies hip design, thrift, and simplicity and targets customers that are seeking value and are therefore willing to participate in the production process by serving themselves, taking the goods, and then assembling them if necessary. It therefore seems as it targets a market niche. The fact that IKEA does not hold a large market share in the geographic markets, except Sweden (Thompson and Martin 2005) may be taken by some as indication that a differentiation strategy is incompatible with high market share as argued by Porter (1980). However, IKEA’s 25% market share in Sweden and its growing market share in other countries (Caplan 2007, Datamonitor 2010a, 2010b) may be taken as an evidence of the opposite. Furthermore, one may argue that the company follows a cost leadership strategy, as it tries to position at the market based on price as its positioning of being ‘different.’ Porter (1985) identified several aspects of establishing cost leadership, including creating a good product, drawing advantage from many sources, and making cost of part of the organisation’s culture. All these aspects have been integrated into IKEA’s strategy and allow the company to engage in innovative cost management. IKEA’s CEO announced in 2007 that the company has succeeded in reducing prices by approximately about 17% over the last five years (Caplan 2007). Indeed, the company is able to integrate both a differentiation and low cost strategy in such a way that it can pursue both an operational excellence strategy and a product leadership strategy, something that few companies have been able to achieve (Kaplan and Norton 2000). In terms of operational excellence, IKEA’s success is based on the fairly straightforward idea of keeping the cost between manufacturers and customers low. Costs are kept low from the design stage all the way through the higher ends of the value chain (Baines et al. 2008). This indicates that, at IKEA at least, differentiation is not incompatible with low cost/price. In terms of product leadership, IKEA excels at innovation and brand marketing focused on design, time to market. As a result of its successful operations IKEA has higher margins that the industry average (Thompson and Martin 2005). IKEA effectively aligns its cost leadership platform with focus on the needs of its target market segment. IKEA’s Internationalisation Strategy IKEA has applied an innovative yet cautious approach to its internationalisation. As a general rule the company never opens an outlet into a country where there is no previous establishment of a supplier link. The suppliers’ links reduce the operational risk of the company once it enters into that market (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2007). According to company sources and analysts, IKEA’s international expansion follows the Uppasala school stages model. In the 1970s and 1980s IKEA expanded into its neighbourhood i.e. the markets of Europe, continuing with markets of similar political and economic order and similar cultural heritage, as USA. The entry into these markets was mainly made through company-owned subsidiaries which is a form that holds highest operational risk (Hill 2004). With the intensification of the globalisation and the opening of the emerging markets, the company expansion plans continued in Eastern Europe and Asia; however, due to the higher risks accompanying these markets, IKEA chose a less risky entry mode in the form of franchising. During the process of the internationalisation IKEA’s owner, used a rather unconventional approach of market entry, as the usual marketing research was replaced with rather informal talk with people on the streets in order to understand their needs (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2007). In the process, the growth on these markets was done on a store by store basis, while the first company subsidises in Europe and USA were led by a group of trusted and experienced Swedish managers (Solomon 2009, Daft and Lane 2009). The basic marketing strategy was and still continues to stay ‘one-design-suits-all’, built around a Swedish concept. IKEA’s products were rarely adapted to the needs of the local markets, at least not until they faced some serious troubles while attempting to succeed on the specific Asian market. IKEA’s global expansion (initial entrances) First store Sweden, 1958 First branch outside native Sweden Norway, 1963 Entering European market (outside Scandinavia) Switzerland ,1973 Germany ,1974 Entering Asian market China, 1975 Entering Australian market ----------------,1975 Entering Canadian market ----------------,1976 Entering U.S market ----------------,1989 Entering Russian market ----------------,2000 Source: IKEA (2011) In 2011, 4 out of IKEA’s top 5 markets are in Europe; the fifth is the USA and the expansion on the attractive yet very specific Asian market is focussed on China, Korea and Japan (with continuous efforts for entering the Indian market) (Datamonitor 2010a, 2010b). It does however indicate an operational risk of overdependence of the company from the developed EU markets. According to the last data on company’s revenues, the revenues for the EU market comprise 80% of the total revenues of the company. The small penetration on the markets outside of the developed markets of EU, indicates that the international marketing strategy mainly expressed with the low adaptation of the products to local markets, has failed in producing the expected results, particularly in Asia. However, IKEA’s challenges in this area have begun long before the issue emerged in Asia and with its internationalisation strategy in USA (Solomon 2009). The internationalisation in the USA (question 2) USA was the third international market of IKEA’s expansion in the mid 1980s. The opening of the first store in 1985, form an operational point of view was an excellent timing due to the high growth of the value in the US dollar compared to the Swedish currency. Although the timing was not related to these developments with the exchange rates, it did made IKEA’s investment in US instantly profitable as most of the offered items at the US market were imported from the suppliers in Europe. In essence, as Solomon (2009) analysis points, IKEA’s strategy in USA has been founded on two arguments linked to IKEA’s identity (the range of its products) and its business model (product offer based on function and design under reasonable prices). Apart from targeting lower income groups, the basic idea of IKEA at the USA market has been designed to bring some additional economic advantages. First, the lower income groups expect less in terms of service. Second, the lower income groups would like to have IDEA into their homes, compared to the middle and higher income groups which treat IKEA as a transitional furniture in their home. Third and last the low income market in USA is larger than the high income group. Although, it had a favourable start supported by the exchange rate, the further development of IKEA at the US market was dubious. As part of its global/local strategy, IKEA targeted the lower income segments of the population and did not adapt its products to the apparent differences in the tastes. According to the survey as explained by Solomon (2009), the American low income consumer has a more traditional and conventional taste compared to the modern style of the Swedish low income consumer, while IKEA’s offering is made 20% in traditional style and 80% in modern. Although the IKEA US marketing team used specific targeting communication techniques to create an impression of 40% traditional vs.60% modern, the actual low range of desired traditional products had its toll on the USA market. The sales improved over the years; however, the increase happened due to the educational efforts of IKEA’s stylists. Current Asian markets (China and Japan)(question 3) With almost a two digit annual growth (10%), China is the second most important economy in the world and the first market by the size of its potential (IMF 2010:2). Its economic growth is a result of the influence of FDIs for which the combination of large investments in infrastructure, stable exchange rate, favourable policies, labour force quality under low cost, proved to be the winning combination (PRS 2010:3). It is exactly these factors that made China the first purchasing or source country for IKEA – Figure 2b. Therefore, from the point of view of operational risk, the further expansion of IKEA in China is secured. As most of the global foreign investors were attracted to the country, to maintain the increasing flow of foreign investors and to ease the business in the country, China has made significant changes for improving the business climate in the past decade. The most significant changes are a result of its recent entry into WTO in 2001. By 2007 China implemented all requested custom duties, while the number of categories subject to export and import licensing has been radically reduced (Ross 2010:48). The effects of the new Foreign Trade law adopted in 2004 were for the first time felt on the exports and imports in 2005. These developments placed China at the second place as the most attractive market destination in 2010 (UNCTAD 2010). The disadvantages associated with an investment in China are relatively constant over time and can have a strong impact on IKEA’s operations. They involve clarity and transparency of China’s regulatory environment; attracting, developing, and retaining management level human resources; enforcing contracts; dealing with construction licences; local and national protectionism and IPR infringements. As a result of these difficulties China’s rank in the Doing Business report is on 79th position (IFC 2010). In China, IKEA quickly learnt that although the company’s global marketing approach had worked relatively well in the past, success in the Chinese market requires special treatment and a different marketing and HR strategy (Li-Qun 2007, Jonsson 2008, Burt 2011). During its Chinese entry and expansion, IKEA has been severally criticised for being too conservative in developing the home products sector, for being not aggressive in opening new stores. IKEA defended its market strategy, saying it was important for the company to develop a customer base and brand recognition in the first place. At the Chinese market, the company reported a double-digit growth for the decade of its presence. For increasing the revenues from the Chinese market, the company did implement a price cutting strategy on more than 500 products. With these activities, the sourcing of the production in China, the further expansion across the country and the pricing strategy, IKEA has secured its competitive advantage at the Chinese market. In this regard one must have in mind that the Chinese middle class equivalent to the low income segment targeted by IKEA in the developed world is increasing with an intensive rate (Li-Qun 2007, Jonsson 2008, Burt 2011). The analysis indicates that it would be highly unlikely for IKEA to end up at the Chinese market as it previous experience with the Japanese market. IKEA’s unsuccessful adventure in Japan from 1970s to 1986 was because of the high differences in the style and in the demands of the Japanese consumers with the standard products IKEA was selling. IKEA made a comeback in 2006 at the Japanese market; however, this time with a good targeting strategy – identifying families with children as the most important target group. Due to the proximity of Japan to China (no.1 source country) the operational expenses and risks are radically reduced compared to the first entry of the company in Japan. Further Asian Expansion (question 4) One may further argue that it is exactly this proximity\y to the source, or the ware-house in combination with the high development in the infrastructure and the rapid economic growth of the developing countries in Asia holds a strong potential for the further expansion of IKEA in the markets of Asia. Further, as Datamonitor (2010a), identifies, although the global home furnishings retail sector has experienced growth in recent years, it was severely hit by the recent financial crisis, which particularly hit the demand in the mature markets of EU and USA. The trend of its growth will continue with a an annual growth rate of 1,5%. For IKEA it is very important that the Asia-Pacific market will grow with 5.6% annually compared to the stagnant EU and US markets until 2015 (Datamonitor 2010a). Out of this perspective, the planned IKEA’s expansion in China with15 new stores by the end of 2015 looks as the most accurate decision (Li-Qun 2007, Jonsson 2008, Burt 2011). Further, the company is actively looking at entering the fast-growing South Korean markets, while the rapidly growing India’s market has been its target for years. As India has changed the FDI ceilings in 2009 (UNCTAD 2010), the country became once again in the focus for the further expansion of the company. India is already a significant source country for IKEA; however, the low level of the development of its infrastructure combined with the low level of retail shopping make India somewhat risky in terms of fast expansion (UNCTAD 2010). The same fits IKEA’s slow international experience so far. As IKEA has already been present in the region for a while, the further expansion strategies should be made through the use of franchising or own subsidiaries depending on the level of risk associated with chosen country. Current Business Environment (question 5) PESTEL A starting point in the external environmental scanning is provided by the PESTEL framework (political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal environments), that helps in spotting trends and conditions with a potential of becoming the future driving forces in the industry (Johnson et.al 2005:57). The PESTEL analysis of IKEA group is as follows. Political environment The intensified globalization and deregulation in all industries including the retail favors the opening the opening of the new emerging markets in Asia. IKEA is one of the first foreign furniture retailers in China. The benefits of the globalisation though are not without a price. The emerging markets still contain significant political risk coming from their weak institutions, the corruption and the low level of democratic development (PRS 2010, UNCTAD 2010a). Economic environment From the economic environment, several factors affect the operations in the retail home furnishing sector: the GDP growth and the volatility of the exchange rates. The GDP growth is the most important factor that affects sector’s profitability. At the moment the global economy is in slowdown characterised with a slow growth in the developed world (2-3%) and a positive growth in the developing regions (7%) (IMF 2010, p.4). The slow growth combined with the recent financial crisis particularly severally hit the resident construction sector and the demand for home furniture. The financial crisis caused a volatility of the foreign currency exchange rates. The devaluation of the USD compared to the EUR negatively affects sales. Socio-cultural environment The ageing population in the developed countries is the most significant socio-economic driver that negatively impacts the operations of IKEA. From the opposite reasons the developed nations of Asia create more opportunities, which is why IKEA must faster its expansion as most of its current revenues 80% comes from a stagnating markets. The high concern of the markets regarding the sustainability of the resources makes IKEA’s product designs and material attractive to a larger group of consumers. Technological environment The technology affects the retail sales channels, increases the transparency and intensifies the price wars (Datamonitor 2010a). At the same time the fast penetration of IT in the main operations of the retail companies has made their dependency on the supplier network less risky. Environmental environment The global climate change is the key-environmental factor that affects the legislation regarding the production of products across many industries, IKEA’s included (Datamonitor 2010a, UNCTAD 2010). Legal environment As every company operating in many diverse markets, different legal laws in HR, finance and communications have an impact on IKEA’s operations. The franchise entry mode significantly reduces these operational threats coming from the legal environment. Industry analysis Porter’s five forces model (1980, 1985) is the most comprehensive model in assessing the attractiveness of industries. The model is a tool for assessing the competitive rivalry in the industry, the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, and the threat of substitutes and new entrants (Johnson et.al.2005). Porter’s five forces analysis shows that the attractiveness of the industry is medium – Figure 4. The buyer power is assessed as moderate as there is a wide range of individual customers at the market and the power of one buyer is diminished compared to the others. However, as the practice of product differentiation is built on cost and product innovation and strong brand recognition, companies segment the market and build strong bases, thus increasing buyer power to moderate level (Datamonitor 2010a). The supplier power is moderate as companies depend on raw materials and event whole products that are provided by many suppliers. The suppliers of the retailers cover the manufacturers of furnishings, floor coverings and textiles. Supplier rivalry is strong which reduces the supplier negotiating power; however, there is increasing number of manufacturers of home furnishing merchandise have integrated forwards into retailing some of their own products boosting their power to some extent (Datamonitor 2010a). The substitutes to the retailers come from the department stores, discount and mass merchandise stores. These companies sell similar products to home-furnishing retailers and offer the convenience of shopping for different products in one location. The threat of substitutes is moderate overall (Datamonitor 2010a). The entry capital requirements accompanied with the intensive rivalry which pushes companies to be more efficient and intensify the price wars serve as an entry barrier in the industry which is perceived as attractive due to the low level of regulation. Brand recognition, product innovation and know how serve as additional entry barriers. The threat of new entrants is assessed as moderate (Datamonitor 2010a). The home-retail industry is in the shakeout phase of its life cycle, characterized with small annual growth (Johnson et.al. 2005:86). The industry is characterised with intense competition and rivalry based on price. Brand recognition, cost efficiencies and product innovations are recognised as the key success factors in the industry (Datamonitor 2010a). SWOT The summarized SWOT of IKEA reflecting the analysis in the preceding sections is presented in Figure 5. Figure 5. SWOT Analysis of IKEA Strengths Strong market position; Strong brand; Strong product innovation capabilities; Operating efficiency resulting into a high profit margin of the company; Strong vertical integration. Weaknesses Customer concentration at EU market 80% of the revenues come from the EU market Low strategic capabilities for faster international penetration; Opportunities The high growth of the emerging markets in Asia; Increasing significance of China as a sourcing country. Threats Intensive rivalry based on price wars Stagnation of the EU housing market; Stagnation of the US housing market TOWS The literature recognises the use of the TOWS approach (Johnson et.al. 2005:347) as an alternative to the Ainsoff matrix. The TOWS analysis is based on the SWOT model and provides an effective way of combining internal strengths with external opportunities and threats as well as internal weaknesses with external opportunities and threats by identifying strategic options. In the case of IKEA, the TOWS matrix is presented in Figure 6. Table 6. TOWS matrix Strengths Strong market position; Strong brand; Strong product innovation capabilities; Operating efficiency resulting into a high profit margin of the company; Strong vertical integration. Weaknesses Customer concentration at EU market 80% of the revenues come from the EU market Low strategic capabilities for faster international penetration; Opportunities The high growth of the emerging markets in Asia; Increasing significance of China as a sourcing country. SO Increase market penetration on existing growing markets by further expansion; Enter into the new markets of Asia as Korea and India; Offer new innovative products to the new markets to strengthen the presence. WO Consolidate the presence at the EU market and US; Faster the international expansion by increasing the dependency on China as a source country. Threats Intensive rivalry based on price wars Stagnation of the EU housing market; Stagnation of the US housing market ST Meet competition by stronger market presence and investments in product innovation; WT Manage the profit margin and consolidate the EU and US market; Secure the revenues from the EU market to fund innovation activities; References 1. Baraldi, E. (2008). Strategy in Industrial Networks: EXPERIENCES FROM IKEA. California Management Review, 50(4), 99-126. 2. Burt, S. et.al. (2011). Standardized marketing strategies in retailing? 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Appendix 1 – The IKEA Concept NOTE: Adapted from the majority of the sources included in the References The IKEA concept The company’s key concept was founded on universal customer appeal across national boundaries, in terms of quality of the product as well as the shopping experience – all aimed to support the customer appeal. The customers ranged from new home owners to executives in business, of differing styles/tastes, who are motivated to create value for themselves by taking responsibility to do the jobs of manufacturers and retailers (assembly and delivery of goods) – introducing to the world the concept of ‘prosumers’. Main focus – IKEA focuses on being a low-cost competitor and achieves this while maintaining a complex supply-chain network. It has an ability to be flexible in response to local opportunities, which could easily add costs as well as value. The company is product and production driven, but able to capture and use ideas from customers and employees. The company has chosen to trade off in a number of ways: it sacrifices being able to offer a wide range of bought-in products by designing and manufacturing its own; it sacrifices the low inventory costs some of its competitors enjoy by only delivering against orders and holding stock in all its stores and warehouses; it sacrifices the use of the highest quality materials in favor of function and affordable prices; it also sacrifices sales assistance in favor of self-service. Product strategy – IKEA follows a standardized product strategy with an identical assortment around the world. It designs all of its product lines and products, then uses a bidding process among hundreds of agreed suppliers, contracts the manufacturing job out under stiff quality-controlled conditions. Furniture and accessories are designed to fit 4 categories: Scandinavian, Modern, Country and Young Swede. Pricing strategy – The IKEA concept is based on low price and products are designed to offer prices that are 30-50% lower than fully assembled competing products. Keeping within this constraint, IKEA responds to different customer needs using a three-level pricing strategy: low, medium and high. The affordability of its products is due to several business practices: target pricing, high-volume purchasing, low-cost logistics and inexpensive retail space. IKEA’s prices do vary from market to market, largely because of fluctuations in exchange rates and differences in taxation and tariff regimes, but price positioning is kept as standardized as possible. Communications strategy – IKEA’s promotions are effected mainly through its catalogues, websites, and the IKEA family loyalty programme. All stores follow a communications prototype, with catalogues, printed materials and websites designed to conform to the IKEA look. Web-sites are examples of tailored uniformity, featuring the same type of information on all 26 websites and 7 mini-sites. The company has turned increasingly to online marketing and has even indulged in the ‘viral marketing’ trend. Primary communications are centered on IKEA’s uniform catalogues, of which 45 editions are printed in 23 languages with a worldwide circulation of over 118 million copies. IKEA advertising is designed to be unique and provocative. The communication goal is to generate word-to-mouth publicity, through innovative and sometimes ground-breaking approaches. Target market – the principal target market which is similar on a global level is composed of people who are young, highly educated, liberal in their cultural values, white-collar workers, and not especially concerned with status symbols; families with young children and young people starting a home, from virtually all categories; people who tend to have ‘ a young mental age’ or in IKEA words: the target market of “young people of all ages”. Distribution – IKEA has a division devoted to business travel logistics, primarily to allow company representatives to visit manufacturers in order to ensure working and product conditions. The primary countries of origin of IKEA products are : Sweden (14%), China (14%), Poland (8%), Germany (8%) and Italy (6%). There are operations in 41 countries – 29 Trading Service Offices in 25 countries; 27 Distribution Centres and 11 Customer Distribution Centres in 16 countries; 1074 suppliers in 55 countries and nearly 1800 subcontracted manufacturers in 55 different countries. About 30% of the products are shipped directly to the stores, which are in effect, warehouses. To facilitate the shipping, IKEA developed IKEA RAIL (the only private rail freight forwarding company in Europe). Competition – There is no global competitor for IKEA. The company had used its relatively low prices, stylish design and offbeat image, environmental performance and immediate gratification via do-it-yourself delivery, in order to achieve a unique positioning. No other large company in the sector has pioneered so many supply chain innovations; no other international furniture company offers such a universal appeal. Competitors are inevitably smaller than IKEA and may be able to compete in one of the many points, but not simultaneously on all of them. Distinctive culture The artefacts clearly include the stores, the products and the prices. There are no brands other than IKEA’s own. There are no annual or seasonal sales; prices stay valid for a whole year. There is a surplus of in-store information and communications, but there are no commissioned sales people. IKEA designs all its own products and aims to lead customer taste. There is just one range of products for the global market, but not every country and store stocks the full range. Mission – to “offer a wide variety of home furnishings of good design and function at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them.” Values – IKEA uses the word ‘prosumers’ to imply that value is added by both IKEA and their customers in partnership. Employees are empowered to be innovative and helpful and challenged to ‘dare to be different’, although recognizing that placing prices substantially below those of its competitors places considerable pressure on its staff. Behaviours – Every IKEA manager flies economy class, uses taxis only if there is no suitable alternative and needs to spend 3-4 days per month working in one of the numerous stores. (In Netherlands, managers have been encouraged to stay with typical IKEA customer families, to learn more about their needs). Organization and management style – Kamprad rarely shows his face to the public and the lack of published financial information reinforces the hidden aspect of IKEA. The organization is structured as an inverted pyramid – employees are there to serve customers – and based on managers and co-workers. There are no directors, no formal titles and no dining rooms or reserved parking spaces for executives. Managers are quite likely to switch between functions and countries. The organization is fundamentally informal with ‘few instructions’. (Every year there is an ‘anti-bureaucracy’ week when everyone dresses casually). Both customers and employees are encouraged to provide ideas and suggestions, which may be translated into new products; so information enters the system from several points. Ownership and structural issues - The company remains a private company which owns all of its sites. It pays for new sites in cash. ‘We don’t like to be in the hands of the banks ’. There are no plans to become a limited company either; Kamprad has criticized the short-term interests of many investors. The company operates as three distinct activities. The core retailing business is now a Dutch-registered charitable foundation. The profits of the operations are subjected to a top-slice of 3% to fund a separate business which has responsibility for managing the brand and IKEA’s franchises. The third arm is banking and finance business. APPENDIX 2 Ikea’s International presence The first IKEA store was opened in 1958 in Almhult – native Sweden, and additional stores in 1966 and 1967. The first branch outside Sweden was opened in the Norway - Oslo in 1963; than Denmark in 1969. In 1973 the company began its wider expansion beyond Scandinavian borders, throughout Europe and Asia and Australia. Europe was entered with the entrance in Switzerland in 1973 and Germany in 1974. (However, Sweden remained the company’s main market, with 75% of total sales). The Asian & Australian markets were entered in 1975 (Asian market was entered with China in 1975, Singapore in 1978, followed by more stores in the Far East and the Middle East). Canada was entered in 1976 and the US market almost a decade later – in 1985. First store in Russia was opened in 2000 in capital Moscow. IKEA’s Asian expansion (chronological list) 1975   Hong Kong - Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tsui) 1978   Singapore – Singapore 1983 Saudi Arabia – Jeddah 1984   Kuwait, Kuwait 1991   United Arab Emirates- Dubai 1994 Taiwan – Taipei 1996   Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur 2006   Japan – Toky(Funabashi) 1998   China – Shanghai 2000 Russia - Moscow (Chimki) 2001 Israel – Netanya 2008 Japan, Shin Misato 2008 China, Nanjing 2008 Osaka, Japan 2008 Adygea, Russia 2009 Dalian, China 2009 Omsk, Russia *2014 *IKEA shopping center in Beijing (expected) Read More