MAM
Ikea to open its first city store in Mumbai on 9 December
Mumbai: Swedish home furnishing retailer Ikea (part of the Ingka Group) will open the doors to its first city store in India at Worli here on 9 December, the company announced.
The Worli City Store will span across 80,000 sq ft and is smaller than its traditional big box stores that typically spread across 400,000-500,000 sq ft. The city store format allows Ikea to be adapted to smaller spaces in an urban context and makes it more convenient for customers to experience the entire Ikea range based on a well-integrated digital and physical shopping experience, the company said in a statement.
“This is an important milestone in our Mumbai journey. As the first city store in the country, we are coming near to more of the many people. This is a new concept for customers to shop with Ikea. They can enjoy an omnichannel shopping experience at this store, browse and order our entire range through various digital tools,” said Ikea Worli City Store India store manager Dawid Gałka on the occasion of the wordmark unveiling.
“Currently, the whole team is working towards creating an excellent customer experience with all safe shopping measures in place when we open. We are looking forward to fulfilling home furnishing needs through a range of digital tools as well as the new city store format,” he added.
As a part of promoting a safe shopping experience, customers who are looking forward to shop at IKEA Worli City Store, need to follow the latest COVID-19 guidelines by being fully vaccinated with two doses and should have completed 14 days after the second dose, shared the retailer.
Currently, the home furnishing major has two stores in the country, its first one in Hyderabad which opened in August 2018 and the second in Navi Mumbai which opened in December 2020.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
