Ikea gets the go-ahead from Kansas city council for new store

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 12/21/2012 10:52:10 AM

Conshohocken, Pa. - Swedish home furnishings chain Ikea this week received unanimous approval from the City Council of Merriam, Kansas for its plans to build a new store in the Kansas City-area.

Increasing the Swedish retailer's presence in the Midwestern United States, this new store is still pending the land purchase, permits and demolition of on-site buildings.

Once these are all approved, construction of the future Ikea Merriam can begin Summer 2013, with the grand opening ensuing in Fall 2014.

Until then, customers can shop at the closest IKEA stores in Centennial, CO; Frisco, TX; Bloomington, MN; Bolingbrook, IL; or Schaumburg, IL; or online at IKEA-USA.com.

Located eight miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, the 349,000-square-foot future IKEA store will be built along the eastern side of Interstate-35 at the Johnson Drive exit on 18 acres to be purchased from DDR Corp. One level of parking below the store, a two-level parking structure, and spaces accessible at-grade will provide more than 1,200 parking spaces on-site.

Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which Ikea stores are known worldwide. Ikea also is evaluating potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at 90% of its U.S. locations.

"Ikea is thrilled and honored at the support voiced by Merriam City officials and staff in favor of our opening a Kansas City-area store in Fall 2014," said Ikea U.S. president Mike Ward. "We look forward to bringing our unique shopping experience closer to the 60,000 customers already in the area, to introducing new customers to the Ikea concept, to hiring 300 coworkers and to creating more than 500 construction jobs."

Ikea Merriam will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children's play area, and a 450-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a ‘Children's Ikea' area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store.