Yes, fans of stylish, assemble-yourself furniture, Ikea really is coming to ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´.
Proof is the rapid pace of store construction at Forest Park and Vandeventer avenues. Four months after breaking ground, workers from general contractor S.M. Wilson & Co. and various subcontractors are erecting precast concrete piers and setting structural steel.
Ikea spokesman Joe Roth said today the 380,000-square-foot store is on schedule to open next fall. The store will employ about 300 people.
Ikea's ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ outpost is the only U.S. store the Swedish retailer plans to open next year. The Kansas City-area Ikea, in Merriam, Kan., opened last month and a store in Las Vegas is scheduled to open in 2016, Roth said.
The ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ store project—costing more than $100 million—has various tax incentives. But based on the performance of a typical Ikea store, it can be expected to log annual sales of $100 million, producing millions in city sales tax revenue.
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Roth says Ikea scouted the ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ area for nearly a decade before choosing the city site next to Interstate 64. The 21-acre site is within the Cortex life sciences district, which did the heavy lifting in negotiating sales agreements with previous property owners.
Part of the site's appeal is its high visibility to motorists on I-64. Adding to the visibility will be a 108-foot high Ikea sign that will go on one corner of the site.
