Beijing to get massive Ikea mall to lure middle class

The Inter Ikea Centre Group is hoping to expand its appeal to Chinese families by opening more sites in the country's top 10 cities.

Jointly owned by the Inter Ikea Group and Ikea Group, the commercial property operator said it plans to open its first shopping center in North China in Beijing on Dec 19.

Located near the South Fifth Ring Road, in the Xihongmen area, the center will cover 210,000 square meters of space and offer more than 400 retail brands.

Ding Hui, managing director of Inter Ikea Centre Group China, said it has invested more than 10 billion yuan ($1.63 billion) on three projects in Beijing, Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, and Wuxi, a second-tier city in Jiangsu province.

About 5.5 billion yuan was invested in the Beijing site, which the company claims is the largest in the country in terms of shopping area given purely to commercial and retail purposes.

With nearly 7,000 parking spaces, the Beijing site has more parking space available than the railway and airport terminals combined at Shanghai's Hongqiao area, he said.

The country's first Inter Ikea center opened in June in Wuxi, and received 250,000 people in the first three days, according to the managing director.

The shopping center in Wuhan is expected to start operation next April.

Established in 2001, IICG has built 59 facilities in 19 countries and has 41 centers in the pipeline.

The shopping centers are not designed to sell luxury products to small groups of people, but rather to have wider, mass appeal for average consumers and families.

"It is more than a place to shop, it is a place to meet," said Ding, adding that although they hoped to open one facility in each of the top 10 cities in China, the development plan is long term and quality is the priority, rather than the number of new openings.

Large shopping centers, where people can shop, dine and entertain, have emerged across the country in recent years, gradually replacing traditional department stores.

There were 3,450 shopping centers by the end of 2013 in China, opening at a rate of about 400 each year, according to Mall China Information Center, a non-profit retail property organization based in Beijing.

Shopping centers in China have shifted from offering just retail outlets to more service-oriented facilities, said Guo Zengli, director of Mall China.

International retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc has also expanded its business scope to commercial property, building its first community shopping center in China to give it more control over store layouts.