Start Making Your List and Practicing Your Swedish; Oregon’s Own IKEA Store Will Open July 25, 2007 in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced that its future Portland, OR store will open at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, July 25, 2007. IKEA Portland will be the Swedish company’s second store and restaurant destination in the Pacific Northwest and 31^st in the U.S. (In the meantime, customers can shop at the Seattle-area store in Renton, WA or online at www.IKEA-USA.com.)

“Due to the progress made during the snowy and rainy winter, and the diligent work this spring, we are confident the remaining construction milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by late July,” noted Ken Bodeen, store manager of the future IKEA Portland. Bodeen added, “now our primary objective is to continue hiring and training the nearly 400 local hires who will be joining the IKEA coworker family before we open.”

Offering 10,000 exclusively-designed items, IKEA Portland will present 50 different room settings, three complete model homes, a supervised children’s play area, and a 250-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries or salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store.

The 280,000-square-foot future IKEA Portland is located on 19 acres at the southwestern corner of I-205 and Airport Way, at the eastern end of Cascade Station, a 120-acre mixed use development of office, hotel and retail buildings in a pedestrian-friendly environment adjacent to the Portland International Airport. The store will include approximately 1,200 parking spaces, 75 bicycle racks, as well as a light-rail station in front of the store, providing convenient access for coworkers as well as for customers. IKEA Portland also will offer services such as home delivery, kitchen installation and in-store consultations.

This new IKEA store created 500 construction jobs and on July 25 will welcome 400 new coworkers into the IKEA family of more than 11,000 in the U.S. and 100,000 globally. Although the future IKEA Portland is still progressing through outfitting phases, prospective coworkers are welcome to apply for diverse positions available in: home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security, cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment. IKEA Portland also offers food service opportunities in its Restaurant, Swedish Foodmarket, Café Bistro and coworker cafeteria.

There currently are more than 250 IKEA stores in 35 countries, including 30 in the U.S., where other U.S. stores are being planned in: Brooklyn, NY; Charlotte, NC; Orlando, FL; Somerville, MA; Sunrise, FL; Tampa, FL; and West Chester, OH. Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of the people can afford them. IKEA has been ranked in FORTUNE’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list (three years in a row), Working Mother magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” (four years in a row) and Training magazine’s annual “Top 100” ranking of companies that excel at human capital development (four years in a row). IKEA incorporates environmentally friendly and socially responsible efforts into day-to-day business, and continually supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. For the IKEA Web Site or for information about working at IKEA, please go to www.IKEA-USA.com.