CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced it is submitting plans to the City of St. Louis, Missouri, for a store that would increase the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Midwestern United States. The application marks the beginning of the governmental approval process. Until the store opens in Fall 2015, customers can shop at the closest IKEA stores: the Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook and IKEA Schaumburg; or online at IKEA-USA.com. Additionally, a Kansas City-area store is under construction and on track to open Fall 2014 in Merriam, KS.
Located in the heart of Midtown St. Louis, the 380,000-square-foot proposed IKEA store would be built along the northern side of Interstate 64 near the Vandeventer Avenue exit. It would sit on nearly 21 acres purchased in the Cortex Innovation District, a vibrant technology community created to commercialize the benefits of university and regional corporate research in St. Louis. One level of parking below the store and spaces accessible at-grade would provide approximately 1,250 parking spaces on-site. Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. IKEA also will evaluate potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of its U.S. locations.
“We look forward to continue growing our Midwestern U.S. presence with IKEA St. Louis,” said IKEA U.S. president Mike Ward. “This dynamic location would provide the already 101,000 St. Louis-area customers a store of their own and introduce the unique IKEA shopping experience to other consumers in Eastern Missouri, Southern Illinois and beyond.”
IKEA St. Louis would 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. In addition to the more than 500 jobs that are expected to be created during the construction phase, approximately 300 coworkers would join the IKEA family when the new store opens. IKEA St. Louis also would provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools.
IKEA, drawing from its Swedish heritage and respect of nature, believes it can be a good business while doing good business and aims to minimize impacts on the environment. IKEA evaluates locations regularly for conservation opportunities, integrates innovative materials into product design, works to maintain sustainable resources, and flat-packs goods for efficient distribution. U.S. sustainable efforts include: recycling waste material; incorporating key measures into buildings with energy-efficient HVAC and lighting systems, recycled construction materials, warehouse skylights, and water-conserving restrooms; and, operationally, eliminating plastic bags from the check-out process, phasing-out the sale of incandescent light bulbs, facilitating recycling compact fluorescent bulbs, and by 2016 selling only LED bulbs. IKEA U.S. is installing electric vehicle charging stations at 17 locations, and has solar arrays atop 90% of its locations.
Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There are currently more than 340 IKEA stores in 42 countries, including 38 in the U.S. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information, see IKEA-USA.com, facebook.com/IKEAUSA, @DesignByIKEA, and http://pinterest.com/IKEAUSA/.
