Ikea opens its first Indian store in Hyderabad

Ikea CEO Jesper Brodin promised Wednesday to meet the needs, frustrations and dreams of local consumers with the Swedish firm's first Indian store, its second attempt to break into a vast but difficult market. Ikea, whose founder Ingvar Kamprad died in January, is present in 49 countries. But its previous attempt in 2006 at reaching India's burgeoning middle class fell foul of local regulations. This time around, Ikea expects to attract seven million visitors per year to its 13-acre Hyderabad site, the first of 25 outlets it hopes to open across the country of 1.25 billion by 2025. But Brodin admitted having to give Ikea's business model a local twist of Indian spice to try to attract a vast middle class not used to a company which expects them to assemble products themselves.