Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, part of the Al-Futtaim group of companies, has unveiled a newly redesigned children’s department.

The range has been enhanced to include children between the ages of eight and 12 to the already existing ranges targeting the 0-2 and 3-7 categories, at the revamped area, said a statement.

John Kersten, managing director Ikea UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman said: “As mentioned during the launch of the 2014 Ikea Catalogue earlier this year, the majority of Ikea customers in the Middle East are families with children. Therefore we decided to redesign and extend our children’s range aims to serve these customers even better and improve their shopping experience. This is in line with our long-term priority of Living with Children.”

The range will introduce more than 100 new articles over this year and the next, designed to give youngsters opportunities to personalise their space and reflect their identity.

Segmented into five distinct themes, the new range caters to diverse styling tastes and layouts based on children’s interests from ‘music and performing’, ‘arts and crafts’, ‘sports and adventures’, ‘online and gaming’ and ‘animals and nature.’

“The revamp for the children’s department is designed around Ikea’s four cornerstones – child safety, understanding of a child’s perspective, knowledge of the market as a leader in the furnishing retail industry, and attention to keeping the products and business sustainable,” said Kersten.

Ikea stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have rolled out the new children’s layout, offering a spacious, easy-to-shop environment that allows interaction between children and the products.

“Designed to help them touch, feel and choose their own products, we hope this change will fulfill our aim to extend Ikea’s inspiration to our young customers. This is our attempt to increase direct interaction with the most important people in the world, our children,” Kersten added. - TradeArabia News Service