SEOUL: Global furniture giant Ikea opens its first store in South Korea today, a much-anticipated market entry that has stumbled at a number of commercial and cultural hurdles along the way.
Expectations are high for the Swedish firm’s 131,550 square metre outlet in the city of Gwangmyeong, especially among urban consumers.
South Koreans have long lamented a lack of choice in a domestic furniture market often criticised for its overpriced and limited designs.
But it is Ikea’s pricing policing that has been called into question ahead of opening, which has also been tarnished by a gaffe over a hot-button diplomatic issue.
When Ikea unveiled the website for its Gwangmyeong store last month, the initial reaction was one angry disappointment at a price list that seemed significantly inflated compared to Ikea stores elsewhere.
Seoul’s Fair Trade Commission also stepped in, saying it would analyse the alleged price discrepancies and make the information available for consumers.
If the prices on the Ikea website triggered shock, there was patriotic outrage over a decorative wall map that marked the waters to the east of the Korean peninsula as the “Sea of Japan” — a red rag to South Koreans who call it the “East Sea”.
The nomenclature is a hugely sensitive issue in South Korea, which is mired in a long-standing series of territorial and historical disputes with Japan.
A storm of media criticism and condemnation from the Gwang-myeong City Council forced Ikea into an apology and a promise to stop selling the map.
“We acknowledge that Ikea has made a mistake in underestimating the sensitivity of this issue and for this, we sincerely apologise,” the company said in a statement.
Despite the teething problems, expectations for the Ikea store are still running high in a market that has not always been friendly to foreign retailers. AFP