Invests over $2.2 billion. IKEA next three years to expand to USA, which was the Swedish furniture company’s biggest investment push since it opened in America nearly 40 years ago. Omnichannel Experience retail are becoming increasingly popular in light of the online shopping explosion caused by the pandemic.

Its roots predate the pandemic: in the US, the trend was sparked by Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods, which incorporated a number of technological advances into the brick-and-mortar shopping experience. Major retail chains such as Walmart and Target soon followed suit. The company’s $2.2 billion investment will include new stores and pickup locations and aims to improve accessibility while maintaining product availability. Javi Quinones, managing director and director of sustainability for IKEA in the US, told CNBC.

Swedish IKEA, which opened its first US store in Philadelphia in 1985, is looking to gain market share in the US as low-income consumers seek more affordable products. “In all states of the US, we see opportunities, but I would say especially in the south, where there is a lot of demand that we cannot meet yet,” said Tolga Onkiu, head of IKEA retail at Ingka Group. The group that “operates” IKEA stores has announced plans to open eight new large and nine smaller IKEA stores, as well as refurbish existing stores in the US, the company’s second largest market after Germany.

Meanwhile, as consumers cut spending, major retailers Walmart and online furniture retailer Wayfair are cutting jobs and closing stores, creating an opportunity for IKEA to buy cheaper stores and storage space. According to Ingka, the IKEA expansion will create 2,000 jobs.