CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced it is submitting plans to the City of Fishers, Indiana for a store that would increase the Swedish company’s presence in the Midwestern U.S. as its first store in the state. Pending approvals, construction of IKEA Fishers could begin as early as Summer 2016, with an opening in Fall 2017. (The closest IKEA stores currently include: the Cincinnati-area store in West Chester, OH; and Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook and IKEA Schaumburg.)
Located approximately 15 miles northeast of downtown Indianapolis, the 296,000-square-foot proposed IKEA store and its approximately 1,000 parking spaces would be built on 35 acres along the eastern side of Interstate 69, just south of the E. 116th Street exit. 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 are excited at the prospect of growing our Midwest presence with an Indianapolis-area store,” said IKEA U.S. president Lars Petersson. “A location in this retail corridor would provide our already 184,000 Indianapolis-area customers their own store and would introduce the unique IKEA shopping experience to other consumers throughout Indiana.”
IKEA Fishers would feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 350-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, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking. In addition to the more than 500 jobs that are expected to be created during the construction phase, approximately 250 coworkers would join the IKEA family when the new store opens. IKEA Fishers also would provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for state and local governments and schools.
Drawing from its Swedish heritage and respect of nature, IKEA strives to minimize its operations’ carbon emissions because reducing its environmental impact makes good business sense. 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 sells only LED bulbs. IKEA U.S. has installed electric vehicle charging stations at 13 locations, has solar arrays at 90% of its locations, and owns two wind farms in the U.S.
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 370 IKEA stores in 48 countries, including 41 in the U.S. IKEA has been included in rankings of “Best Companies to Work For” and, as further investment in its coworkers, has raised its own minimum wage twice in two years. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information see IKEA-USA.com, @IKEAUSANews, @IKEAUSA or IKEAUSA on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.
