IKEA Set to Invest in the Algarve Region

Ikea - Loule

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IKEA, the internationally-renowned Swedish furniture corporation, will push through with its plans to construct a complex in Loulé in the Algarve Region. The €200 million project is expected to create 3,000 jobs directly and indirectly.

The commercial complex will be the fourth IKEA in Portugal.

Opened in 2004, the first was in the parish of Alfragide extending toward the parish of Buraca, which is part of Lisbon’s major shopping areas. The second store, opened on 31 July 2007, is in Matosinhos with a total area of 36,000 square meters. The third store, opened in 25 May 2010, is in Frielas, Loures with an area of 39,000 square meters – the largest IKEA complex in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Mayor of Loulé, Seruca Emídio, has announced to the Lusa News Agency that the planned project has a 120,000-square meter area of construction. IKEA has, in fact, already purchased approximately 40 hectares of land in the municipalities of Loulé and Faro.

It must be noted that the IKEA complex will be situated in the Loulé Municipality but will border the Faro Municipality, too. In compensation to the Faro council, the Swedish company will implement road development projects worth €200,000 in the municipality. Mayor Macário Correio of Faro said that the Santa Bárbara de Nexe road access will be vastly improved by the project, according to Correio da Manhã.

The IKEA complex will include an IKEA store, a shopping center and retail park, and spaces for food, cinemas and entertainment.

According to IKEA spokeswoman Ana Teresa, the planned project is a confirmation of IKEA’s push to bring the Swedish brand into the Portuguese populace in the Algarve Region. If all goes well, the store should open its doors to customers by 2014 or 2015.

The municipal assembly of Loulé is expected to give the green light for the project to the Plano de Urbanização Caliços-Esteval soon. Only when approval has been granted can IKEA take the next step of submitting the building plans for further approval.

The Loulé project is part of the Swedish company’s expansion plans in Portugal with investments totaling more than €660 million. The plans include opening 7 stores – 3 in Lisbon, 2 in Oporto, 1 in the center and 1 in the south of the country. Two more Inter IKEA shopping centers will also be opened.

But these are not just the only international investments in Portugal. Swedwood Group is planning to open 3 factories in Pacos de Ferreira while Auchan Group will invest in the Alegro Algarve project.

Truly, Portugal is attracting more than its fair share of international investors despite the global financial crisis – a testament to the stability of its government, economy and environment. The IKEA project in Loule is just the start of better and bigger things to come for the Gentle Land in the Iberian Peninsula and that is certainly good news for Portuguese around the world.


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Published in: Business / Guide to Portugal