(Yicai Global) July 21 -- China’s first Ikea City store, a scaled down inner city version of its popular warehouse-size out-of-town malls, is scheduled to throw open its doors to shoppers this week in downtown Shanghai, The Paper reported.

Located in Jing'an district, the outlet will open on July 23, the report said, citing Francois Brenti, Ikea China’s vice president for expansion. The new premises bring Ikea’s total number of stores in Shanghai to five, three of which -- excluding Jing’an -- it owns.

Compared with the 30,000-square-meter malls located in suburban Shanghai, the Jing’an outlet covers just 3,000 sqm, and of the roughly 3,000 kinds of goods on display about 1,100 are small items that can be easily carried home.

Brenti said the introduction of the city store model will allow urban customers to more easily reach the outlet and thanks to visual design, digital innovations, and new elements of eating, drinking, and shopping, they can also expect a more vivid home retail experience.

Ingka Holding, the company behind the Ikea brand, has opened 30 shopping malls, one small mall, two experience stores and three Ingka Centres in the mainland since opening its first China outlet in Shanghai in 1998.