$60M Ikea Comes to College Park

COLLEGE PARK, MD- Almhult, Sweden-based home furnishings behemoth Ikea has swung open the doors of its 370,000-sf store in College Park to a swarm of enthusiastic shoppers who eagerly awaited its debut. There are only two other stores in the greater Washington, DC region; one in Baltimore, and the other in Woodbridge, VA. This newest retail outlet–developed at a cost of $60 million–marks the company’s 16th locale in the US, and its first US store to be developed under an expansion plan, which calls for the opening of 50 new outlets in North America over the next decade.

Located on a 26-acre parcel near the Capital Beltway and Rte. 1 just outside of Beltsville, Ikea College Park is a two-story shopping depot with an interior large enough to accommodate five model homes, 55 individual room settings, several play areas and a 450-seat restaurant. Owners and area officials expect to see about 1,500 automobiles making their way to the store via Rte. 1 on the weekends. In anticipation of the influx of traffic, Ikea spent several million dollars to fund the Maryland State Highway Administration’s infrastructure adjustments in the area, which are designed to mitigate travel complications stemming from the additional road activity.