Home Centre chief not worried by IKEA

The chief executive of furniture retailer Home Centre has dismissed competition from international giant IKEA as the company embarks on an ambitious expansion drive.

Last month, the Landmark-owned brand said it would increase its footprint by 50 stores in the next five years as part of a Dhs 1bn investment.

Chief executive Mederic Payne told Gulf Business the company was not “copying” IKEA and had a different offering. “I don’t spend my time worrying about IKEA,” he said.

Payne also dismissed questions as to whether the retailer had been late to the game in terms of its online offering.

Home Centre officially launched online shopping for the United Arab Emirates as part of Landmarkshops.com on September 20.

The launch followed IKEA’s announcement in June that it would expand its online sales service to include deliveries in all countries where it has stores.

“For this region, actually we’re ahead of the game,” Payne said, arguing that companies which did not provide an online service soon would be left behind.

“I think you’re going to see lots of companies over the next few years scrambling just to get online.”

Home Centre’s expansion will add to its 90 stores across India, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon. It will also add a further 3,000 employees to its 6,000-strong workforce.

Payne also admitted the company was in conversations regarding opportunities in Iran.

“The key thing is to watch what happens with the US Congress and then in December. That will obviously make us decide whether this is an opportunity for Home Centre or not.”