IKEA’s new Israel store is humongous

IKEA’s second store in Israel, which opened March 9 in the central city of Rishon Lezion, is the biggest in the Middle East, store officials claim.

The size of the store in the Maayan Soreq area is about 366,000 square feet, with 1.2 miles separating one end of the store from the other. It edged out an IKEA store in Dubai to become the chain’s biggest store in the region, although an even larger one is expected to open in Abu Dhabi in the future.

IKEA CEO Shlomi Gabbai said that the store’s target audience is the 600,000 residents living in the Rishon Lezion area. He expects 2 million annual visitors and revenue of about $82 million.

The new store has 46 showrooms, some 1,400 parking spots, seven elevators, three escalators and Israel’s biggest restaurant, with 500 seats. — ynetnews.com