The 345,000-sf Ikea with 1,700 parking spaces is expected to open in the spring of 2009 on 25 acres off Interstate 85 in Charlotte, NC, as part of a larger retail development encompassing more than 135 acres, the retailer said. The additional retail space will be developed after the store opens by Charlotte-based Crescent Resources, which sold the property to Ikea. Two other Ikea stores in Orlando and Sunrise, FL will open this fall.
The Swedish-based chain, which operates more than 250 stores in 34 countries, including 29 in the United States, also plans to open stores in Brooklyn, NY, Portland OR, Somerville, MA, Draper, UT and West Chester, OH.
"We are clearly focused on building a presence in the South," Ikea spokesman Joseph Roth told reporters. "We've been evaluating opportunities in the Carolinas for a while. Charlotte suited our needs best."
Doug Greenholz, Ikea real estate manager, said the Charlotte site was selected because of its location and the area's population of more than 1.5 million people.
The Charlotte store, Ikea's fourth in the Southeast and its first in the Carolinas, will be located about an hour south of the nation's furniture manufacturing center in High Point, NC. Its mix of nearly 10,000 items, including ready-to-assemble furniture, will be displayed inside three in-store model homes and 50 room settings. A 300-seat restaurant serving the firm's Swedish dishes, such as gravy-covered meatballs with lingonberries, as well as American fare, is also planned for the store's interior.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
