IKEA showcases product range for children

Hyderabad: Ahead of the launch of its first India store here, Swedish home furnishings company IKEA on Wednesday held a workshop to give insights into how it builds its product range for children.

The session ‘Living with children’ provided a sneak peek into IKEA India’s plans for its children’s range.

The workshop by Mia Olsson Tuner, IKEA India’s Country Communication and Design Manager, gave an overview into what to expect from IKEA’s children product range, India inspired and customized collections, innovative solutions like secret storage, scale down furniture, and global best sellers.

On the occasion, products like Duktig, Minnen and Sundvik were on display at The Hej Home, IKEA’s experience centre. Mia also spoke about ‘Play Report’ a research study on the role of play which IKEA brings out every year, according to a statement by the company.

“We do home visits in key markets to look at play from both a child and an adult’s perspective and to understand what motivates and hinders play, as well as how people across cultures think about play.

“Besides these play visits, we talk to futurologists, child psychologists, teachers, play experts and online communities to understand play. So, there is a whole of research that goes behind the scenes to arrive at how IKEA builds its furniture combinations, toys and storage solutions for children,” said Mia.

At the India stores, first of which will open soon in Hyderabad, IKEA will bring in bestsellers like the SLA, KT collection, furniture range designed for kids aged eight and upwards that can be changed to as per the children’s needs.

IKEA will also offer the KLA, MMIG collection at Hyderabad which is aimed at new born babies, with soft towels, quilt covers, blanket and baby care mats. The Hyderabad store will also house the iconic ‘Smaland’, a supervised children’s area with a forest-themed playscape where parents can leave their children with caretakers while they shop.

“We will have different home set-ups at the store, which parents and their kids can choose from or create their own set-ups. The children’s furniture will have safety features like wall fasteners. All the products will be built from safe materials using only chemicals we need and have anti-dirt, anti-slip surfaces,” added Mia.

–IANS