The Hoff furniture retail chain is ready to consider the possibility of buying production and leasing retail space from the Swedish company IKEA, which is reducing its presence in Russia. This was stated by “RIA Real Estate” CEO Hoff Maxim Grishakov on Wednesday, June 15.
“It is important to understand that we had many points of intersection: the regions of presence and even the same shopping centers, so Hoff is ready to consider the assets of the Swedish retailer in the event of an appropriate offer – this is part of our development strategy and the opening of new points,” he said. .
Speaking about production assets, Grishakov said that Hoff is constantly expanding its pool of suppliers. According to him, it is important that potential customers understand that Hoff is the only One Stop Shopping player in the furniture and home goods market. As part of this strategy and the assortment development strategy, the company can apply for new production facilities, he added.
Earlier on the same day, Grishakov told Izvestia that the company had not yet received relevant offers and was neutral about the possibility of acquiring IKEA’s business in Russia.
“In the sense that no one offered us anything. Moreover, the news says that IKEA does not close stores. It is not very clear what we can claim,” he said.
At the same time, the First Furniture Factory announced its readiness to hire IKEA employees. As Alexander Shestakov, general director of the factory, told Izvestia, these workers have experience in modern production, they are able to provide a high level of service and sell well.
Earlier in the day, IKEA said it would sell its four factories in Russia. In the foreseeable future, the company does not see the possibility of resuming operations in the Russian Federation, as the situation with business processes and supply chains around the world has only worsened in recent months.
The company intends to pay employees who are waiting for the reduction, compensation in the amount of seven months’ salary.
Also in Russia, Mega shopping centers owned by IKEA will continue to operate, and the furniture store will look for an opportunity to resume activities.
IKEA has suspended the work of its stores in Russia since March 4. The company cited disruption of the supply chain and difficult trading conditions due to sanctions imposed by the West against the backdrop of a special operation to protect Donbass as the reason.