Ikea in Bali? Sightings of renovation project in Kuta hint at possible debut

Which type of person are you? The sort who visits Ikea for their Swedish meatballs, or the type who can’t resist their minimalistic Scandinavian-style home goods? Whatever floats your boat, you might be able to do either, or both, in Bali soon.

Earlier this week, a number of community accounts across social media posted what appears to be an ongoing renovation project in Kuta, with a small but still legible print of the Ikea logo on the store window visible for passersby to see. 

In the absence of an official announcement at the moment, there are pretty good reasons to believe that an Ikea store is coming to Bali for real, seeing as how the project is located in a building that formerly housed a Giant Supermarket. Following the closure of the major supermarket chain across Indonesia earlier this year, PT Hero Supermarket ⁠— which operates both retail businesses in Indonesia ⁠— announced that five of their Giant stores will be transformed into new Ikea stores. 

Related ⁠— Indonesia to get 5 new IKEA stores with the demise of Giant supermarkets

At the time, we didn’t quite imagine that one of those locations would be in Bali, but a little internet sleuthing eventually led us to some postings for job openings at Ikea, which specifically looked for Bali-based candidates. 

We have reached out to PT Hero Supermarket for a confirmation and will update this article once we get a response.

Online, the reactions to the news have been quite varied as some wondered how Ikea’s opening would impact local furniture businesses, while others expressed excitement over the possibility of the furniture giant coming to the island. 

“Why would you bother with terrible cheap Ikea furniture when Balinese furniture is 100% better,” one user wrote on Facebook. 

“Looking forward for Swedish meatballs with mash potatoes [sic],” another said. 

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