Sunday 12 August 2018

In Thailand,

particularly in Bangkok,


tuk-tuks as these three wheeled vehicles are called, are everywhere, and the same is true in India, so when IKEA opened its first Indian store in Hyderabad, complete with a fleet of colourful electric rickshaws for deliveries, photos on social media show the branded rickshaws painted in IKEA's signature blue and yellow, with brightly patterned canopies and cushions, the three-wheeled vehicles are charged by 4,000 solar panels installed on the new store's roof, reports electric vehicle magazine Electrek, like all rickshaws their narrow dimensions make them suitable for navigating congested roads and narrow streets, however, these battery-operated vehicles are less polluting than standard auto rickshaws that run on fossil fuels, the electric vehicles will make up 20 per cent of the Hyderabad store's delivery fleet,

excited customers queued for hours to visit the shop, causing such large traffic jams that Hyderabad's traffic police, which blamed the snarl-up on IKEA for "insufficient parking", had to issue a warning, rather than serving up their traditional Swedish delicacy of pork meatballs, the cafe at India's first IKEA will serve samosas, chicken balls and biriyani to cater to Hyderabad's majority Hindu and Muslim population, alongside firm IKEA favourites such as the Billy bookcase and Lack table, the 37,161-square metre store will stock culturally relevant products such as masala boxes, rice cake makers, pressure cookers and a mattress made using coconut fibres, IKEA in India, wherever next?


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