Ikea is reportedly setting its sights on a $2.2 billion US expansion plan across three years which will see it open eight new large stores and nine smaller ones across the country.

The Swedish homeware retailer currently has 51 US stores, with the plans marking its biggest investment in a single country to date, set to create around 2,000 new jobs.

The US is reportedly Ikea’s second biggest market by revenue after Germany.

Southern states, in particular, are where the retailer sees “big demand” that it has so far “not been able to respond to”, Tolga Öncü, head of Ikea retail at parent company Ingka Group, told Reuters.

Providing further reasoning for the move, Öncü told the news agency that as consumers spend less, competing retailers such as Walmart and online furniture retailer Wayfair are cutting jobs and shutting stores, which is “creating an opportunity” for IKEA to obtain cheaper stores and warehouse space.

"There are locations available that have not been available before, there are opportunities for us to speed up investments in acquiring land and existing locations to bring IKEA closer to many people," Öncü said.

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