Swedish furniture retailer IKEA opened its first downtown mini-store in China, IKEA City, in Shanghai’s Jing’an district on Thursday. It only took five months for the furniture giant to launch the three-story store occupying a total area of around 3,000 square meters in the municipality’s central business district amid the COVID-19 epidemic. On Thursday morning, local residents flocked to the new store which has been a popular shopping and recreation venue among Chinese consumers.