IKEA closes shop in Russia

Iconic Swedish furniture brand IKEA is closing all its stores in Russia, starting March 4, and pausing all its sourcing in Russia and Belarus as the war in Ukraine enters its second week. Stores in Kiev were already closed on Thursday, according to the company’s website.

“The war has both a huge human impact and is resulting in serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions, which is why the company groups have decided to temporarily pause IKEA operations in Russia,” Brand owner Inter IKEA and store owner Ingka Group said in a joint statement on Thursday.

Inter IKEA is in charge of supply, while Ingka Group owns most IKEA stores worldwide, including all 17 in Russia.

Russia was IKEA’s 10th-biggest market in the year through last August. Back then, retail sales amounted to $1.8 billion, or 4% of total retail sales.

Meanwhile, Belarus is purely a sourcing market for the company, with no stores in the country.

The furniture maker has joined a number of international companies that have already stopped operating in Russia. H&M Group has temporarily suspended the work of all its brands, while major online retailers like Farfetch, ASOS, Yoox Net-a-Porter Group stopped delivering goods to the country. US tech giant Apple reopened stores in Russia on Thursday after repricing products due to the weakening local currency. The company’s stores were closed the day before and its official website had stopped deliveries and blocked some of its services.

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