World News for Students of English

01-12-2021 15:00

Ikea opened its biggest store in the world in the Philippines, with the new 68,000-square-meter store in Manila, a cornerstone of the Swedish home-furnishings giant’s growth plans in Asia.

The Philippines is a very good area for a business with its growing economy, growing middle class, and domestic environment. It’s been the right place for Ikea for a long time. However, Ikea is predicting a more difficult year ahead in 2022, due to logistic logjams and price increases for raw materials as a result from the pandemic.

The opening comes as Ikea has grown its e-commerce presence with online orders now making for 26% of its global sales. The company has more than 460 physical stores in about 60 markets, and it plans to add nearly 60 more locations in the current financial year. The company is looking at more than Asia, as it will take its first step into South America next year, opening a store in Chile’s Santiago.

Difficult words: cornerstone (the basic part of something’s existence or success), logistic logjam (a problem with getting or removing things and which seems to have no solution), e-commerce (buying and selling of products or services over the Internet).

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