The Unofficial IKEA Web Journal

Ikea store manager Mark McCaslin believes 300 to 2,000 customers will be waiting to shop at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The first 5,000 shoppers will receive gift cards.

“The Ikea experience”
Chic but cheap designs are expected to attract droves of shoppers to Canton

Kara G. Morrison / The Detroit News

“Ikea is “just a store” the way Mall of America in Minneapolis is “just a mall.” That is to say, it’s an experience.

And
that is why the Swedish home furnishings retailer, at the corner of
Ford and Haggerty roads in Canton Township, expects customers to line
up as early as Monday — two days before the doors open for the first
time in Michigan.

Store manager Mark McCaslin believes anywhere from 300 to 2,000 customers will be there ready to shop at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

That
doesn’t seem like an overly brash estimate, when over the last several
weeks, more than 30,000 Ikea enthusiasts signed up on a special Web
site (www.ikeacantonproject.com) to compete for a pre-opening shopping day and personal store tour.”

LINK

See also: IKEAFANS.com – Personalizing the IKEA Experience since 2005

Store Openings IKEA Canton, IKEA Grand Opening, IKEA Michigan, IKEA Store Opening, ikea usa, IKEAFANS.com, The IKEA Experience

4 DAYS, 23 HOURS and 30 MINUTES

Customers can begin lining up at IKEA Canton on Monday, June 5, 2006 – in advance of our June 7 opening. We are going to be doing something special for everyone on opening morning so you do not have to be the first, second, or third customer in line* in order to share in the fun. Keep checking for updates!

Visit the IKEA Canton, MI. website

Share your photos with IKEA fans all over the world. Simply go to FLICKR and tag your photos “ikeacantonmichigan ” We will feature the best images here on Positive Fanatics.

Just to make sure there’s no mistaking on our intentions to party:

Show your true colors at the next IKEA opening or shopping spree
with the Official Positive Fanatics Face Paint stencil. PFlower power!

Download pf-face-stencil02.pdf

Store Openings IKEA Canton, IKEA Grand Opening, IKEA Michigan, IKEA on Flickr, IKEA Store Opening, ikea usa

Echolex took a series of cool shots at the soon-to-open IKEA Canton, MI. store:

“IKEA Canton: Air Out Your Camping Gear”
By Echolex @ FLICKR
© All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Other “peek-y” pictures here, here and here.

Share your photos with IKEA fans all over the world. Simply go to FLICKR and tag your photos “ikeacantonmichigan ” We will feature the best images here on Positive Fanatics.

Store Openings IKEA Canton, IKEA Grand Opening, IKEA Michigan, IKEA on Flickr, IKEA Store Opening, ikea usa

“  I can’t explain the excitement I am feeling waiting for the opening
day of Ikea in Michigan.  I will be there and am seeing by the
CantonProject sight that about 20,000 +  others will be there too!
That means the secret is out.   Michigan will be redecorated with
Ikea.  Thank You for your choice of coming to Michigan, you won’t be
disappointed.”

- Judy S.

“I learned to love IKEA when I visited the East Coast in the Summer of 1994.  I had just graduated from college and bought as much for my new apartment as my parents’ van would hold.  We stopped at several in Virginia and Pennsylvania as we made our way home, buying more each time we found another IKEA store anywhere near our route.  I now live a couple of hours outside of Detroit am thrilled I won’t have to drive all the way to Chicago to get my fix.  THANKS IKEA, for being such a fun place to shop and for coming to Michigan!!”

- Julie L.

Share the love. Sign our log book!

Opinions IKEA Canton, IKEA love, IKEA Michigan, IKEA Pennsylvania, IKEA Virginia

“I was rolling by Haggerty & Ford Rd. the other day and noticed the
sign letters on the parking lot so just HAD to capture them for you.
These are cell phone pix so not that great but still a decent snag.”

Thanks Heather!

Share your photos with IKEA fans all over the world. Simply go to FLICKR and tag your photos “ikeacantonmichigan ” We will feature the best images here on Positive Fanatics.

Store Openings IKEA Canton, IKEA Grand Opening, IKEA Michigan, IKEA on Flickr, IKEA Store Opening, ikea usa

I woke up this morning to a huge coffee cup of steaming news:

“CANTON TOWNSHIP — Amid flat-screen TVs stacked on pallets, sofas shrink-wrapped in plastic and unassembled kitchen cabinets piled atop a table, Ikea store manager Mark McCaslin couldn’t get the smile off his face.

The 311,000-square-foot Ikea store, for months a jumble of steel and sawdust, is finally beginning to take shape. On Tuesday, the yellow block Ikea letters were up on the outside of the building at Ford and Haggerty roads. Inside, brightly colored Ikea signs were sprinkled throughout the store.

“It’s a thrill to see the store evolve,” McCaslin said. “You can touch furniture, sit on things.”

Nearly 200 workers hustled to put the finishing touches on the store, which is nearly 75 percent complete. With less than two months to go before the June 7 opening, employees unloaded furniture and hammered, sawed and drilled as they assembled tables, installed kitchen cabinets and arranged displays.

The sprawling two-story store will stock more than 10,000 items and feature more than 50 room settings, three “model homes,” a children’s play area and a 300-seat restaurant that will serve Ikea’s famous Swedish meatballs.

The excitement among employees was palpable Tuesday as they meandered around the store. The chain has hired 400 employees in Metro Detroit but is still accepting applications…”

“Ikea offers sneak peek”
By Tanisha Mercer
eDetroit News

LINK

Photo: Velvet S. McNeil / The Detroit News

Our usual reminder: We are getting lots of emails inquiring about jobs at
IKEA. Wish we could help but Positive Fanatics is not officially
affiliated with IKEA. Please direct your applications to their corporate site/offices. Good luck!

Store Openings IKEA Canton, IKEA Grand Opening, IKEA Michigan, IKEA Store Opening, ikea usa, sneak peek

“PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 30, 2006–IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced that its future Canton, MI store will open on Wednesday, June 7, 2006. IKEA Canton will be the Swedish company’s first store and restaurant destination in Michigan, fourth in the Upper Midwest, and 28th in the U.S. (The closest IKEA stores are in the Chicago area and in greater Toronto.)

“Due to the significant progress made before Winter and the accomplishments so far this year, we are confident our remaining milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by early June,” noted Mark McCaslin, store manager of the future IKEA Canton. McCaslin added, “right now our primary objective is to continue hiring and training the almost 400 Michiganders who will be joining the IKEA coworker family before we open.”

Located on 21 acres at Ford and Haggerty Roads off I-275 in Canton, MI, the 311,000 square-foot IKEA store created 500 construction jobs and in June will welcome 400 coworkers into the IKEA family of more than 10,000 coworkers in the U.S. and 90,000 globally. In addition to 10,000 exclusively designed items, IKEA Canton will present 50 different room settings, three model homes, a supervised children’s play area, and a 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features will include a Children’s IKEA area in the showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store…”

YAHOO NEWS

[Thanks for the tip Chris!]

Announcements IKEA Canton, IKEA Grand Opening, IKEA Michigan, IKEA Store Opening, ikea usa