IKEA ready to break ground in Oak Creek as retail field overall struggles to get footing
Paul GoresAmid one of the most tumultuous decades in the history of U.S. retailing, a new wrinkle will be added Thursday when ground is broken on Wisconsin's first IKEA store.
Twenty-nine acres along W. Drexel Ave. near Interstate 94 in Oak Creek are about to be transformed into what could become one of the most popular retail destinations in the state.
The new store will stand in sharp contrast to the prevailing trends in the industry. Big-box retailers are closing stores throughout the nation, leaving suburban shopping malls in peril as their anchors go dark.
The list of U.S. retailers with troubled financials that could make them potential bankruptcy risks now totals 22, according to ratings by Moody's Investors Service — topping the 19 recorded at the peak of the Great Recession.
Consumers increasingly are shopping online, rather than going to brick-and-mortar stores.
Yet IKEA, the Swedish self-assembled-furniture store chain, is charging ahead.
When the store opens, likely sometime next summer, Oak Creek will have a 291,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar retailer that not only will sell its signature furniture and home and office décor, but also will feature a 300-seat restaurant serving specialties such as Swedish meatballs with lingonberries.
It will be the company’s 48th store in the U.S., and its arrival means Wisconsin shoppers won’t have to travel to IKEA's Schaumburg, Ill., location to check out its merchandise in person.
The stage was set for an IKEA in Oak Creek when officials in the suburb provided about $5 million to help construct a new interchange on Drexel Ave. as I-94 was being rebuilt. The new interchange gave IKEA, which had been looking at the Wisconsin market for some time, the freeway access it needed and a path to the kind of acreage it was seeking in the state.
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Some site grading work already is underway, but Thursday’s 10:30 a.m. ceremony gives Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz, other dignitaries and IKEA representatives a chance to officially celebrate the start of construction.
In preparation for the ceremony, the Journal Sentinel asked IKEA about the project and the company. Here are the responses from Joseph Roth, IKEA public affairs manager.
Q. Is the Schaumburg, Ill., IKEA, where most folks from Wisconsin have been going, the largest IKEA store in the U.S.? How many square feet is the Schaumburg store?
A. IKEA Schaumburg is 450,000 square feet. The largest store in the country is IKEA Burbank, (Calif.), at 456,000 square feet. IKEA Schaumburg was built as a store for the entire Midwest before IKEA committed to opening stores throughout the U.S. Over the years, we began peeling off customers from surrounding states, as well as with a second Chicagoland store, which opened September 2005 in Bolingbrook.
Q. Will the Oak Creek store be one level or multiple levels?
A. In Oak Creek, we were fortunate to be able to purchase 29 acres that would allow construction and operation of a single-level store, containing the same shopping experience components as other locations.
Q. Do you know how many people over the next year or so will work on construction of the Oak Creek IKEA?
A. More than 500 jobs are expected during the construction phase. Once the new store opens, 250 co-workers will join the IKEA family.
Q. Some IKEA stores draw a portion of their power from solar panels on the building. Will the Oak Creek store use solar panels?
A. We are proud that 90% of our U.S. locations have solar panels on the roof, and all new IKEA projects are evaluated for onsite renewable energy potential. The evaluation of this Oak Creek location is under way currently.
Q. How many vehicles will the parking lot will be able to accommodate?
A. Approximately 1,000 parking spaces.
Q. Does IKEA still provide tape measures to people as they come into the store so they can measure furniture and other items to see whether they'll fit?
A. All IKEA stores provide tape measures to people as they enter the store, as well as shopping lists/maps of the store.
Q. Are there children’s areas in the store?
A. Parents can drop off their children at Småland, a supervised children’s play area that replicates the look of a typical farmhouse and forest in Sweden. Children who meet the height requirement of 37 inches to 54 inches can play and climb on make-believe rock walls, pine trees and a wooden shoe, and join puppet shows and other interactive activities. Children who do not meet the Småland height requirement can find family-friendly play areas throughout the store designed for children to use with their families. These play areas throughout the store keep kids occupied while parents make decisions.
Q. How many Swedish meatballs does IKEA serve up each year in the U.S.?
A. Globally, IKEA sells a billion Swedish meatballs a year. We do not provide a figure just for the U.S.
Q. The opening of the Oak Creek store is planned for summer of 2018. Can you pinpoint which month it might open?
A. As we are now only breaking ground, it is too early to tell – particularly without knowing how far along construction will get before the winter weather starts.
