Ikea's sofas and spoons in demand as first India store opens in Hyderabad

What started as a trickle of shoppers at 10 am, when the store opened, had turned into a steady stream about an hour later

Ikea spent 12 years studying India and visited 1,000 homes in major cities to see how its people lived. On Thursday, as a few dozen early shoppers walked through the doors as the emporium opened in Hyderabad, the acid test began of whether the furniture giant understands what Indian consumers want.

“I have no plans to blow a lot of money today, maybe just buy some kitchenware, but this is going to be a destination for me,” said Rajani Venugopal, a businesswoman who waited about an hour and managed to be the first person in the doors.

Some 380 million