One-third of the customers at Ikea locations come for the sole purpose of eating a meal or having a snack in its restaurant, according to Trend.sk. The magazine writes that in Slovakia, IKEA’s restaurants and cafés attracted 1.4 million customers and that the Swedish meatballs are the most popular item with 78 tons having been consumed. The Swedish furniture retailer recently decided to set up restaurants in city centers in order to get closer to its customers, who usually have to travel to the edge of town. Michael LaCour, Head of Ikea’s restaurant department, said another advantage is that restaurants require far less space. F&B revenues in Ikea have grown rapidly. While in 2013, the sector reported revenues of USD 1.5bn worldwide in Ikea stores, in 2016 it was USD 1.8bn. Some 650 million meals are being served across 48 countries annually.
