So far, IKEA has stated that IKEA Tampa will be opening Summer 2009, but on the IKEA Group Corporate site, there’s a May 2009 Opening indicated. Could it be that IKEA will come early to Tampa?
Let’s hope so! By the way…we’re looking for local guest bloggers who would be interested in blogging about the upcoming opening of the IKEA Tampa location in Ybor City. Interested? Contact us!
Holy Akurum, Batman! That’s a lot of kitchens! According to the Triangle Business Journal,
Swedish home-furnishings giant Ikeais putting the final touches on its first North Carolina store, which is scheduled to open next month in Charlotte.
The 356,000-square-foot store will be one of the chain’s largest. It will feature three model homes and 49 room vignettes, including 17 kitchens. Shoppers will be able to buy more than 10,000 exclusively designed products — from furniture to art, tableware and even food.
I do wish IKEA would stop selling themselves as a full-service setup though:
Ikea now offers on-site designers to help shoppers create complete rooms, take measurements and recommend contractors to assemble the furniture. The store also can arrange home delivery.
Though IKEA has many supporting businesses that will help with design, ordering, delivery, assembly and installation, anyone who’s been there knows that IKEA itself is not about the service aspect. IKEA is all about the low prices. It’s about doing something for yourself. And that’s ok by me – that’s the deal I have with Ingvar. 
If you’re not confident about doing it yourself, seek help – North Carolina is home to Eco-Modernism (See post: IKEA Runs: Need your IKEA Fix? Hire a local delivery service), a few new startups, and Custom Assembly and Install out of Atlanta is contracted with IKEA as a Certified Installer.
You can get in line for the IKEA Charlotte Grand Opening starting at 9am on Monday, February 16th, 2009 in advance of the Wednesday, February 18th Grand Opening Event. And while we’re on the subject, PositiveFanatics.com is seeking Guest Bloggers to document the experience of the Charlotte IKEA Grand Opening. Need your 15 minutes in the sun? Contact us!
[Via Triangle Business Journal]
IKEA Southampton, UK is due to open on Thursday, February 12th – the first UK IKEA built in a city centre and the Swedish furniture giant’s 254th store worldwide. IKEA anticipates the Southampton IKEA being an important testing ground logistically due to the location in the center of an urban area.
City officials, police and IKEA top level managers have been working together to ensure no repeat of the riot that took place when the IKEA in North London was opened in 2005. A man was stabbed and others injured in the crush that took place at the door on Grand Opening Day. IKEA was forced to shut its doors only 30 minutes after opening.
Says IKEA Southampton Store Manager, Allesandra Taffe,
Of course we want people to come on the opening day, it is quite exciting and there will be some offers which will be quite good for customers, but not crazy.
It’s not in anybody’s interest to have mass chaos, certainly not ours,we want the shopping experience to be a good one.
Taffe previously managed the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania US IKEA store for 4 1/2 years, and will manage 500 co-workers at the new IKEA Southampton. These local co-workers will be joined by over 100 IKEA co-workers from around the world who will help prepare and launch the store.
Staff will be on hand at the entrance to help “IKEA virgins” find what they are after and there will be a crèche where parents can dump their children to shop in relative peace.
Don’t forget to buy the kiddies a frozen yogurt after ‘dumping’ them off!
[Image via The Daily Echo]
Richard Castanon - IKEA Charlotte Store Manager
IKEA Charlotte is opening in just over a month – February 18th is the magical date! Check out the IKEA Charlotte Readying to Open slideshow on CharlotteObserver.com.
Have you been able to get any photos of the new IKEA in Charlotte, NC? We’d love to get your pictures!
[Photo via CharlotteObserver.com]
Amid all the public excitement over Ikea’s Winnipeg plan is a danger that those high expectations have so far to fall.
Considering this city’s record on infrastructure renewal and paving the way for development, that risk is very real. The international home furnishings retail giant’s arrival here is certainly not a done deal, as long as more than $20 million in street expansions and traffic signal improvements are necessary for the chain to open its proposed 350,000-square-foot outlet within three years. Read more…
IKEA Canada Announces IKEA Winnipeg to be Opened between 2011 and 2013 near Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway.
Although many furniture retailers in Winnipeg have been forced to close their doors, IKEA Canada has announced that it plans to open an IKEA in Winnipeg sometime between late 2011 and early 2013.
The affordable home furnishings retailer has signed an agreement to acquire a large piece of land at Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway, formerly part of the CN Intermodal Terminal.
However, the future of an IKEA in Winnipeg is conditional upon Municipal and Provincial government approvals. In order to move into their planned location, they must first rezone and redevelop the land. Read more…
Sweden-based furniture chain Ikea is expected to announce today that it is planning to set up shop in Winnipeg.
A source, who asked not to be identified, confirmed Ikea is set to announce “something big” today involving a possible location for the store at Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway.
Rumours about the retail furnishings chain coming to the city have popped up a number of times in recent years. In late November, Ikea Canada said it was “looking at Winnipeg in a very serious manner”.
“We are taking a very serious look at the market and there is a specific piece of land we’re interested in,” spokeswoman Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick said at the time.
She could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Last month, she refused to identify the site and said there was “no immediate plan” for a store in Winnipeg. At the time, Premier Gary Doer confirmed the province had spoken with Ikea representatives.
Another source said approximately 20 City of Winnipeg employees are bound by non-disclosure agreements not to discuss Ikea’s plans for the city. Read more…
The Ikea rising near Ybor City, in the Tampa Bay area, now has the familiar blue walls, a store manager and enough qualified candidates in the hopper to fill all 53 management jobs. The Swedish furniture giant says the 353,000-square-foot building, which will be the biggest Ikea in Florida, is on schedule for a summer opening.
The store will be the chain’s first with an expanded Swedish foods department after a successful test in Boston.
The hiring process starts this winter for the other 350 full- and part-time jobs. The company points to its website, ikea.com, for dates when applications will be accepted. Read more…
All sorts of IKEA Store News today! IKEA has selected Monica Valera as the store manager for the New IKEA Tampa Bay set to open Summer 2009.
CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., Dec 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced the appointment of Monica Varela as store manager for its future store on track to open Summer 2009 in Tampa, FL. It will be the Swedish company’s 3rd store and restaurant destination in Florida, 6th in the Southeast, and 37th in the United States. Until the 353,000-square-foot future IKEA Tampa opens in Summer 2009, customers can shop at existing Florida IKEA stores in Orlando and Sunrise or at www.IKEA-USA.com.
“We are very excited about opening a store in the Tampa Bay area, where there are many IKEA customers as well as others who may not know us yet but are anxious for us to open,” said IKEA North America president Pernille Lopez. “Monica’s retail store experience with IKEA, as well as her product life-cycle management expertise, has prepared her for managing this store in Tampa.”
IKEA Charlotte will stage its Grand Opening on Wednesday, February 18, 2009. We’ll be posting about the construction of the new store, developments, and more as the date nears. Get ready North Carolina! IKEA USA is bringing you IKEA Charlotte! Read more…
