It looks like Qatar residents anticipating the launch of an IKEA shop here will have to wait a little longer.

The Swedish home goods store will not be meeting its planned Jan. 30 opening date, a spokeswoman for developer Al Futtaim Group has told Doha News:

I would like to inform you that as per our revised development plans, we have postponed the opening of the first IKEA store in Qatar.

We will communicate the specific date for the opening to you soon.

The spokeswoman did not respond to questions about why the delay has occurred, but IKEA canceled a pre-launch shopping event last week reportedly because it is still awaiting safety clearance from Civil Defense. 

IKEA, which had been planning to launch a little over a month behind its original schedule, is located on Al Shamal Road just north of Doha and is the anchor tenant of the upcoming Doha Festival City project.

The shopping and entertainment complex, slated for completion in 2016, is expected to be the second-largest in the region (after Dubai Mall), and has already lined up department store Harvey Nichols and VOX Cinemas as tenants amongst some 500 shops.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Nasser Al-Saadi