IKEA To Build Manufacturing Facility In Virginia

Furniture World Magazine

Swedwood, the industrial group within IKEA, the leading home furnishings retailer, announced plans to build a manufacturing facility in Danville, Virginia. The factory will be the Swedish company’s first furniture production location in the United States, and will produce a variety of wood-based IKEA products such as EXPEDIT bookshelves, LACK coffee and side tables, MAGIKER modular entertainment systems and PAX wardrobe frames. Pending permits and construction, the facility will open in early 2008, and will create up to 740 jobs. The 810,000 square-foot future Swedwood factory will be built on 209 acres in Cane Creek Centre, in the City of Danville, VA – in Pittsylvania County, VA – approximately 50 miles north of Greensboro, NC. “The close proximity to many IKEA stores and distribution centers, coupled with good regional infrastructure and available land, make Danville ideal for this North American production facility,” said Bengt Danielsson, North American president of Swedwood. Pernille Lopez, North American president of IKEA, added, “Our ability to meet the home furnishing needs of consumers throughout North America with our growing number of stores now will be enhanced by producing well-designed and functional home furnishings here as well. We are proud to be investing in Danville and Pittsylvania County and to be creating up to 740 new jobs too.” Founded in 1991 by IKEA as a subsidiary to safeguard itself against the loss of vital suppliers in Europe, Swedwood is an industrial group of companies whose primary function is to manufacture and distribute furniture. Originally tasked to participate, when necessary, in the privatization of IKEA suppliers, Swedwood today has evolved into an IKEA supplier with advanced production facilities of its own, including more than 36 production units in nine countries, and a staff of more than 13,000. (In addition to Swedwood, there are 1,300 suppliers in 54 countries to IKEA globally.) There currently are more than 235 IKEA stores in 34 countries, including 28 in the U.S. and 11 in Canada. IKEA plans to open approximately three to five stores a year in North America, with U.S. stores being planned in: Brooklyn, NY; Draper, UT; Dublin, CA; Orlando, FL; Portland, OR; Round Rock, TX; Somerville, MA; Sunrise, FL; and West Chester, OH. IKEA also has seven distribution centers in North America, with facilities in: Bristol, PA; Brossard, QC; Perryville, MD; Tejon, CA; Vancouver, BC; and Westampton, NJ. A Southeastern terminal is being built in Savannah, GA. Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, 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. IKEA has been ranked in FORTUNE’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” List (two years in a row), Working Mother magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” (four years in a row) and Training magazine’s annual “Top 100” ranking of companies that excel at human capital development (four years in a row). IKEA is recognized as a socially responsible company that incorporates environmentally friendly efforts into day-to-day business and continuously supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. To visit the IKEA Web Site, or for information about working at IKEA, please go to http://www.IKEA-usa.com. For more information about Swedwood and this future production facility, please go to http://www.Swedwood.com.