IKEA Appoints John Achillea To Manage Future St. Louis Store

Furniture World News Desk on 4/29/2015

IKEA announced the appointment of John Achillea as manager of its future store opening Fall 2015 in St. Louis, MO. Until IKEA St. Louis opens as the 41st U.S. IKEA store and first in Missouri, customers can shop at the closest IKEA stores: Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook and IKEA Schaumburg; or the Kansas City-area store in Merriam, KS; or online at IKEA-USA.com.

“We are very excited about opening a store in St. Louis, where there are many IKEA customers as well as others who may not know us yet, but are anxious for us to open,” said IKEA U.S. CFO Rob Olson. “John’s management experience and background in sales – both here and in the U.K. – more than qualify him to manage IKEA St. Louis.”

“IKEA recognizes the strong customer base that exists in Eastern Missouri, Southern Illinois and beyond, so I am pleased about providing the more than 101,000 customers – who currently are shopping at IKEA elsewhere – with a store of their own,” Achillea said. “I also look forward to introducing new customers to our unique product offering and family-friendly shopping experience.”

A native of London, U.K., Achillea, who relocated to the area from Long Island, NY, first started with IKEA in 1996 as a customer service coworker at the IKEA Brent Park store in London, U.K. Throughout the years, he held various sales and management positions, ultimately becoming sales manager at that London-area store ten years later. In 2007, Achillea joined the IKEA U.S. organization as sales manager at the Ft. Lauderdale-area store that opened in the city of Sunrise, FL. After nearly four years, Achillea was named Deputy Store Manager at IKEA Sunrise. In 2011, John became store manager of the Long Island store in Hicksville, NY where he served until now becoming store manager of IKEA St. Louis.

The 380,000 square-foot future IKEA St. Louis store is being built on 21 acres along Interstate-64 at Vandeventer Avenue, with 1,300 parking spaces, and will open Fall 2015 in the City’s Cortex Innovation District. The store will reflect the unique architectural design for which IKEA is known worldwide, and the state’s largest rooftop solar array, consistent with the IKEA renewable energy presence at 90% of its U.S. locations.

IKEA St. Louis will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 450-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store and preferred parking. In addition to 500 jobs expected during construction, 300 coworkers will join the IKEA family when the store opens. Diverse positions at this employer of choice include: home furnishings sales, interior design, customer service, safety and security, cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment. Also, IKEA St. Louis will offer more than 60 food service opportunities in its Restaurant, Swedish Food Market, Café Bistro and coworker cafeteria. IKEA St. Louis also will provide annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools.

About IKEA: Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There are currently more than 360 IKEA stores in 47 countries, including 40 in the U.S. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information see IKEA-USA.com, @IKEAUSANews, @IKEAUSA or IKEAUSA on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest.