New IKEA Store Opens In Atlanta On June 29

Furniture World Magazine

IKEA, a leading home furnishings retailer, is celebrating the grand opening of the company’s first store in the Southeast on Wednesday, June 29 at 9:00 a.m. The new Atlanta store offers 10,000 exclusively-designed home furnishings and accessories under one gigantic 366,000 square-foot roof and is the Swedish company’s 23rd store in the U.S, the third largest IKEA store in North America and the only U.S IKEA store to be part of a mixed-use development in a central business district. "At IKEA, our vision is to help people create a better everyday life, and we recognize that the comfort, function and style of your home can make a significant difference in how you live in it,” explained Lynda Mee, store manager, IKEA Atlanta. “We’re looking forward to becoming a part of the Atlantic Station project and offering the greater Atlanta area, Georgia and the surrounding states, our affordable, well-designed and functional home furnishings, as well as inspirational ideas for the home, no matter what your individual taste or budget.” Highlights of the IKEA Atlanta unique family-friendly shopping experience, and conveniences include: Design Inspiration and Shopping Satisfaction -IKEA Atlanta offers a wide variety of style selections with 10,000 exclusively-designed home furnishing and accessory items ranging from beds, mattresses, bookcases, desks and sofas to pots, pans, lighting, textiles, pet products, as well as kitchens complete with cabinetry and appliances. As part of the IKEA commitment to quality design at affordable prices, all products at IKEA Atlanta will carry a guarantee for material quality and workmanship. -52 inspirational room setting displays and four complete model homes represent real-life situations ranging from young singles to families with kids to empty-nesters and provide visitors with creative design ideas that can be brought to life in any room in the home. A Fun Day Out with the Family -IKEA Atlanta has many family-friendly features, including a supervised children’s play area called Småland that replicates the look of a typical Swedish farmhouse and forest (for children who meet the 37”-54” height requirement). • Children can have an IKEA SMILE card validated during each visit to Småland and receive an IKEA toy after their sixth visit. -There are 10 play areas throughout the store designed for children to enjoy with family supervision. -IKEA recognizes that children live in every room of a family’s home, and since IKEA Atlanta is just as child-friendly as the home would be, children are encouraged to touch and try out products, just as much as adult shoppers. -More family-friendly benefits at IKEA Atlanta include a Children’s IKEA department, strollers, child-height handrails, baby care rooms and a private, comfortable room for nursing moms. Want a Snack with that Sofa? -The 350-seat IKEA Restaurant, the second largest in North America, offers breakfast, lunch and dinner and features a variety of traditional cuisine specialties representative of the company’s Swedish roots and heritage including shrimp sandwiches, salmon plates and Swedish meatballs, as well as American dishes such as vegetarian, pasta and chicken. The IKEA Atlanta Restaurant will also be the only one in the world to feature grits on the menu. Children can enjoy menu choices just for them such as a child’s portion of Swedish meatballs and, for even younger visitors, the Restaurant also offers organic baby food, bottle warmers and bibs. -A Café Bistro near the store’s exit serves hot dogs, cinnamon buns and frozen yogurt for customers needing to recharge before heading home. -Also, the Swedish Foodmarket offers Swedish delicacies, specialties, snacks and even frozen IKEA meatballs that can be prepared at home. You Do a Little, We Do a Little, And Together We Save a Lot -The IKEA concept relies on a partnership with customers to choose, transport and assemble their purchases, contributing to low prices for well-designed furnishings. For the convenience of customers, IKEA also offers assembly and home-delivery services. -IKEA products are packaged in flat boxes creating less “wasted space” in shipping and ground transportation and also greatly reducing costs, storage needs, and damage. -IKEA designers start with the price and work with manufacturers to find efficient and environmentally-friendly ways to create designs using existing production processes. IKEA looks all over the world for suppliers with the most suitable raw materials and high volume orders on a global scale. This approach results in cost savings that are passed on to customers without sacrificing quality, design or function. Shopping Made Easy -IKEA Atlanta features directional signs and price tags with product information in both English and Spanish for the convenience of visitors. -The new store has 22 checkout lanes, four self-checkout lanes and, just for grand opening week, there will be 20 mobile handheld cash registers to efficiently expedite credit and debit card purchases. -There are approximately 1600 parking spaces, 32 easily accessible handicap parking spaces, 160 loading parking spaces (so visitors can readily load purchases into their car and bring them home the same day they shop) and 60 family-parking spaces. -Visitors to IKEA Atlanta also can take MARTA to the “Midtown” station. They can then ride on the Atlantic Station Shuttle bus directly to the store. Visit http://www.itsmarta.com to view MARTA schedules, maps and more details. -To help shoppers easily transport purchases to their cars, IKEA Atlanta features two “travelators,” multi-level moving sidewalks with grooves into which the wheels from shopping carts can safely lock to keep carts from moving. The travelators in IKEA Atlanta are the first such devices in Georgia. -Five resting areas (located near restrooms and phones) with comfortable seating and natural light. IKEA, the leading home furnishings retailer founded in 1943, offers a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at prices so low that the majority of the people can afford them. IKEA currently has more than 210 stores in 33 countries, including 23 stores in the United States. IKEA has been ranked in FORTUNE’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” List, Working Mother magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” (two years in a row) and Training magazine’s annual “Top 100” ranking of companies that excel at human capital development (three years in a row). IKEA supports responsible business practices and innovative initiatives that help protect the environment and the future for children around the world. To visit the IKEA Web site, please go to http://www.IKEA-usa.com. For information about employment, please visit http://JobsAt.IKEA-usa.com.