Inter Ikea Systems BV

Merriam, Kansas -- Ikea announced it had officially plugged-in Kansas’ largest rooftop solar array, atop its recently opened store in Merriam. The 92,000-sq.-ft. solar array consists of a 730.17-kW DC system, comprised of 2,394 panels, and will produce approximately 986,800 kWh of electricity annually for the store, the equivalent of reducing 680 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

For those shoppers who are sick of lugging phone chargers from room to room, Ikea has a solution: The Swedish retailer is launching a new line of home furnishings with wireless chargers.

As smartphones have become an essential part of consumers’ lives, Ikea decided to make the charging function a natural part of the home.

Ikea is taking its multi-year partnership with American Forests to a whole new level with the introduction of an educational video for children.

The Swedish retailer and the forestry group have teamed up to produce a video to be shown in designated kids’ areas at Ikea stores. The video will explain how forests and trees benefit all life on the planet, including wildlife, and how trees help to slow or mediate climate change.

Las Vegas -- Ikea has broken ground for its future Las Vegas store.

The 351,000-sq.-ft. store will be built on 26 acres along the northern side of Interstate-215 at Durango Drive, near Sunset Road. Ikea has contracted with R&O Construction to build the project, and store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which Ikea stores are known worldwide.

Shoppers looking for Swedish mustard or cheap bathroom rugs won’t have to ask themselves “Why isn’t there an Ikea in Las Vegas?” for very much longer.

The Swedish home furnishings retailer, along with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, Clark County Board of Commissioners Chair Steve Sisolak, Clark County District F Commissioner Susan Brager, U.S. Congressman Joe Heck, local officials and community leaders on-hand, officially broke ground this week for a future Ikea in Las Vegas.

Food has always been an important part of the shopping experience at Ikea, and the retailer is doubling down on that strategy by unveiling a new menu.  

Ikea announced it will be adding more nutritious and sustainable food options to its restaurants, bistros near the checkout, Swedish food markets and co-worker restaurants. The new food strategy highlights how important food is to the chain.

Stoughton, Mass. -- Ikea has gone live with the expanded solar energy array atop its store that opened nine years ago in Stoughton, Massachusetts. The 51,516-sq.-ft. solar panel addition consists of a 318-kW system built with 1,248 panels, and will produce 385,900 kWh more of electricity annually for the store. It sits atop a 58,575-sq.-ft. store extension completed last summer.

Conshohocken, Pa. -- Ikea announced plans to install a fuel cell system at its location in Emeryville, California. Consistent with the retailer’s focus on emerging energy technologies, is the first Ikea in the world to convert biogas into electricity through a clean electro-chemical process. The fuel cell system will be installed, commissioned and activated by this summer, 2015.

Ikea contracted Bloom Energy, Sunnyvale, California, for the design, development and installation of the fuel system.