ST. LOUIS, MO, 2014-10-27— /EPR Retail News/ — IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced that steel erection is underway as part of the construction of its future St. Louis store opening next fall, 2015. Erection of structural steel atop the existing precast concrete parking structure helps frame the shape of the building and supports the roofing and siding components to be installed later in the process.
The 380,000 square-foot future IKEA St. Louis store, is being built on 21 acres along Interstate-64 at Vandeventer Avenue, and 1,300 parking spaces, will open Fall 2015 in the City’s Cortex Innovation District. Until then, customers can shop at the closest IKEA stores: Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook and IKEA Schaumburg; the Kansas City-area store in Merriam, KS; or online at IKEA-USA.com.
“It is exciting to see the steel frame of an IKEA store take shape. So we are very pleased that the construction progress keeps us on track to open our St. Louis store next fall,” said Rob Olson, IKEA U.S. CFO. “We know that IKEA St. Louis will meet the home furnishings needs of customers from eastern Missouri and beyond who have not had an IKEA store close enough to allow for frequent visits. We are glad construction is going smoothly on our plans to bring IKEA to more of the Midwest.”
IKEA St. Louis will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 450-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store and preferred parking. In addition to 500 jobs expected during construction, 300 coworkers will join the IKEA family when the store opens. IKEA St. Louis also will provide annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools. St. Louis’ S. M. Wilson & Co. is building the store, whose plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA is known worldwide.
In the spring, opportunities will be available for candidates interested in working at this employer of choice in home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security, cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment. Also, setting itself apart, IKEA St. Louis will offer nearly 70 food service opportunities in its Restaurant, Swedish Food Market, Café Bistro and coworker cafeteria. Interested candidates should be monitoring IKEA-USA.com, and also can contact the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) to be informed of opportunities as they develop.
Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There are currently more than 360 IKEA stores in 46 countries, including 40 in the U.S. 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” and Training magazine’s annual “Top 100.” IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information see IKEA-USA.com, @IKEAUSANews, @IKEAUSA or IKEAUSA on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest.
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