KL can actually say it has an IKEA. You know, instead of leeching off what's technically Selangor territory. After years of only having just one store in the entire country, IKEA has found a second home in Cheras's Jalan Cochrane, and it's 20 percent larger than its Mutiara Damansara counterpart (42,000 square-metres of shopping space to be exact). At the moment, IKEA Cheras stands alone, but like IKEA Mutiara Damansara, it will soon be connected to MyTown mall, which will open in the second half of 2016. The store currently has over 1,700 parking bays, but come 2017, IKEA Cheras will also be accessible via the Cochrane MRT station, so you won't need to drive over for random trips.
The new IKEA store, although larger, looks and feels pretty much like its older sibling, but where it differs are in the displays and range of products (as well as a significantly larger food hall, but we'll get to that later). You'll notice an expanded section on cooking and baking equipment, household plants and gardening, as well as more kid-friendly products. We spotted a whole section dedicated to arts and crafts items for kids, games (a dartboard!), and even kids' costumes available to try on (something that parents and adults will no doubt try as well).
Now on to the important part: The IKEA food hall. Yes, it's a lot bigger – 780 seats bigger – and better-looking too, finally mimicking the look and feel of a room designed by IKEA (instead of just a plain cafeteria). Because it's wider there's more space to manoeuvre, but on a busy day (like launch day), it still feels overwhelmingly crowded –that's just the power of IKEA meatballs, we suppose.