An early Christmas present for fans of the Swedish flat pack furniture store Ikea - it's on its way to New Zealand.
Photo: AFP
Ingka Group, Ikea's largest franchisee which operates stores in 30 markets around the world, has been granted exclusive rights to explore options to expand into New Zealand.
In a statement, the retail operations manager for Ingka Group Tolga Oncu said the company is happy to meet the wish of many New Zealanders for Ikea to open here.
"We aim to make IKEA fully accessible, including stores and ecommerce. We see this as a long-term commitment and investment in New Zealand, building relationships with customers, suppliers and future co-workers."
Ikea was founded in Sweden in 1943.
In total, Ikea serves 1.2 billion customers in more than 50 markets through a combination of IKEA stores, ecommerce and pick-up and order points.
Ingka Group plans to release more details about future operations in New Zealand in the new year.