Giant’s fall leads to IKEA’s rise, as the Swedish furniture brand is expected to open new stores with the closing of the major supermarket chain.
PT Hero Supermarket, which operates both retail businesses in Indonesia, recently announced that all Giant supermarkets in the country — which numbered 395 in its heyday — are closing for good by the end of July. The parent company says it’s focusing its efforts on its more profitable enterprises, including IKEA, Guardian drugstores, and the Hero supermarket chain.
Five of those stores will be transformed into new IKEA stores, while some of the remaining 390 will be transformed into Hero supermarkets.
IKEA currently has three major stores in Indonesia, the first one of which opened in Alam Sutera, Tangerang in 2014. That was followed by the opening of the Sentul City, Bogor store in 2019, and a West Java store — which has a dedicated section for local SME products — in March of this year.
PT Hero Supermarket has yet to announce which five Giant supermarkets will be turned into IKEA, and whether or not they will be considered major stores. Considering the vast spaces that Giant supermarkets occupy, we certainly wouldn’t bet against it.
No timeline has been given for the planned transformation either.
