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.
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