New IKEA store in northwest China

Sweden's IKEA Group, the world's biggest retailer of home furnishings, has started work on a new store in Xi'an, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. With a total investment of 108 million U.S. dollars, the first store in the northwest, with a business area of 80,000 square meters, is due to open in August 2015, in the Xixian district of the city. The store is expected to attract more than 30,000 customers per day. "Xi'an is the economic and financial center of central and west China. We are optimistic about the huge market in the city," said Jon Frauenfelder, IKEA China's real estate expansion director. IKEA has 14 stores in 11 Chinese cities. The store in Beijing's Daxing is IKEA's largest outside Sweden