Ikea Continues Its Peachy U.S. Expansion By Breaking Ground For Urban Store In Atlanta

Furniture World Magazine

IKEA, the world's leading home furnishings retailer - with company representatives, city officials and community leaders on-hand -broke ground on Thursday, April 15 for its new store opening Summer 2005 in Atlanta, GA, to be built on 15-acres in Midtown Atlanta's mixed-use Atlantic Station development just off the I-75/85 connector. The 366,000 square foot IKEA Atlanta will include 1,597 parking spaces allocated among two levels of parking below the store. Besides construction jobs, approximately 500 coworkers will join the IKEA family when the new store opens. "We are excited about entering Metro Atlanta at this location in Midtown," said Pat Merwin, real estate manager for IKEA. "We have known for a while there are many IKEA customers in Atlanta who may have moved here from areas of the country where we have stores, as well as others who are anxious for the unique shopping experience we offer." IKEA Atlanta will be the 1st IKEA store in the Southeast, with the closest stores being in Woodbridge, VA outside Washington, DC, or along I-10 in Houston. With more than 190 stores in 31 countries -18 in the U.S. - IKEA, as part of its North American expansion, plans to open 5 new stores a year for the next ten years. Other U.S. stores being planned include: Bloomington, MN; Brooklyn, NY; Dublin, CA; Frisco, TX; New Haven, CT; Philadelphia, PA; Somerville, MA; Stoughton, MA; Tempe, AZ; and a relocation in Houston, TX. Since its founding in 1943, Sweden-based IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of the people can afford them. In 2003, IKEA was named in Working Mother magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" and was honored with the magazine's Family Champion award for family-friendly programs. IKEA is recognized as a socially responsible company, and continuously supports initiatives benefiting children and the environment. To visit the IKEA Web Site, please go to http://www.ikea-usa.com.