Swedish furniture maker IKEA to open first Colombia store

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Swedish furniture maker IKEA will this week open its biggest South American store in Colombia, as part of an international expansion plan which includes growth in Peru and Chile with an investment worth $600 million, an executive said on Wednesday.

The Colombia store, to be opened on Thursday in the capital Bogota, will be the first in the country and will span three floors with 40 exhibition rooms.

"The opening of our first store in Colombia is part of the brand's plan to establish nine stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru over the next 10 years," Hasbleidy Castaneda, IKEA's manager in Colombia, said in an interview.

The investment plan includes opening two more stores in Colombia next year, to be located in Medellin and Cali, the country's second and third-largest cities respectively.

IKEA has 450 stores in 60 countries, including in Chile, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by David Holmes)