The much-anticipated opening of IKEA in Qatar at the end of this month will likely be pushed back, apparently because the building is still awaiting Civil Defense clearance.

Gulf Times reported today that the Swedish home goods company will not meet its planned opening date of Jan. 30. When reached for comment, sources working on the project did not deny that a postponement was imminent. 

But a representative of developer Al Futtaim Group told Doha News that a delay has not been confirmed, and more details would be available later this week.

Meanwhile, an IKEA pre-launch shopping event that more than 2,500 people had planned to attend on Jan. 26 has been cancelled.

The event, which included several hundred members of the online forum Doha Mums, has been pushed back reportedly due to inspection delays.

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 roads leading to the store and the parking lot remain unfinished, but much of the interior appears to be ready for customers.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photos by Nasser Al-Saadi