Hyderabad, July 18 Swedish home furnishing multinational IKEA shut down its store in Hyderabad from Saturday in the wake of the spike in Covid-19 cases in the city.
Forty days after re-opening the store, the retail giant has once again downed the shutters. The move came amid growing number of coronavirus cases in Hyderabad.
"We are temporarily closing the store to come back better and stronger," IKEA said in its message to the customers.
IKEA India CEO & CSO Peter Betzel, in a letter to customers on IKEA website announced that the store will be shutdown from Saturday.
"As you know, after a period of lockdown, we opened our operations in Hyderabad, starting with online in May and then our store in June, with all the hygiene and safety precautions," he said.
"In the light of the current Covid situation and to strengthen the safety and well-being of our co-workers and customers, we want to take all our experiences and learnings during the last weeks and to further build a safer and even better shopping experience in our store. In order to do this in a responsible way, we will close our store for our customers from Saturday the 18th of July. We are aiming to re-open soon, to meet all our customers even stronger and inspiring manner," Peter Betzel added.
However, the company will continue to meet customers' furnishing needs through online store.
Customers can shop with ikea.in by choosing either delivery at home or using our safe and contactless click and collect service from the store. He announced that click and collect service will be free during the period that the store remains closed.
IKEA's home furnishing services of remote planning, personal shopper and home furnishing consulting will also remain open.
Located in HITEC City, the information technology hub, it is IKEA's first and so far the only store in India.
It was closed on March 20 even before the lockdown was implemented to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country. It re-opened on June 8 with strict measures to ensure safety of visitors.
IKEA had launched the store in August 2018 with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. The 4,00,000 square feet store offers 7,500 products, including 1,000 products priced below Rs 200. It also has a 1,000-seater restaurant, which is the biggest for IKEA in its global network, offering Swedish and Indian cuisine.
( With inputs from IANS )