IKEA Israel reports record sales in 2010

Home products chain's turnover reaches NIS 678 million – up 40% compared to 2009. Some 3.5 million Israelis visit IKEA stores in past year

Reuters | Published: 01.23.11, 15:26

IKEA Israel last week reported record sales in 2010, with a turnover of NIS 678 million (about $190.5 million) – a 40% rise in income compared to the previous year.

The improvement in sales stems mainly from the home products chain's new store in the city of Rishon Lezion, which opened in March 2010. The results, although impressive, are lower than expectation, as the chain estimated that it would reach a turnover of some NIS 800 million ($225 million) last year.

The Netanya store reported about NIS 500 million ($140.5 million) in proceeds, while the new store reached about NIS 180 million ($50.5 million).

Some 3.5 million people visited the two stores in 2010, compared to 2.4 million visitors in 2009 and 2.3 million visitors in 2008. About 24 million people have visited both stores since the chain entered the Israeli market in 2001. The Israeli furniture industry generates some NIS 5-6 billion ($1.4-1.7 billion) a year.

'Product of hard work'

The most outstanding rise in sales in 2010 was recorded in four departments: Kitchens and dining tables (56%), mattresses (53%), textile (50%) and children's products (48%). The furniture department comprised about 65% of IKEA's total sales.

"The figures show that the Israeli consumer's trust in the different furniture categories and in the quality of the chain's products has grown stronger," said IKEA CEO Shlomi Gabai.

A 10% increase in sales was recorded in the business department specializing in sales to businesses. More than 4.5 million people visited the company's website in 2010 – a 40% rise compared to 2009. The average time spent on the site was about seven minutes, and more than 60 million pages were viewed.

According to IKEA Israel Chairman Ron Hadassi, "The results are an impressive achievement, which is the product of hard work."

The global IKEA chain has 320 stores in 38 countries. Its annual sales turnover totaled about €23.8 billion ($31.8 million) in the past year. About 699 million people visited the chain's stores in 2010.