Ikea Wants 344,000-SF Ohio Store by March 12

WEST CHESTER, OH-Ikea plans to open its first Ohio store, a 344,000-sf facility, here by March 12. The new store will go up on 28 acres of a 56-acre parcel along I-75 at the southeastern corner of Allen and Muhlhauser roads, south of the Union Centre Boulevard exit.

The company already operates 33 of its massive furniture stores in the US, including four others in the Midwest, including two in the Chicago area, a store in Canton, MI and a store in Bloomington, MN. The store in this suburb of Cincinnati is now under construction, and should be complete by March, said store officials in a statement. The company plans to hire 400 employees for the new store.

A company spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the Sweden-based firm has been trying to get into the Ohio market for some time. “We have been analyzing where to go, either Cleveland, Columbus or Cincinnati,” he says. “This is a very fast-growing area, and is accessible to all parts of the market. From West Chester, it’s a two-hour radius from Indianapolis; Louisville, KY; Dayton, OH; Columbus and Lexington, KY. We don’t open many stores a year, and we hoped to complete a large area presence.”