Home furnishings retailer expanding in Southeast

Ikea is submitting plans to the City of Norfolk, Virginia, to open a 331,000-sq.-ft. store.



Pending approvals, construction of the proposed store could begin in spring 2017, with an opening in summer 2018. The retailer said it would evaluate potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of its U.S. locations.



“We are excited at the possibility of growing our Southeastern U.S. presence with a Norfolk store,” said Ikea U.S. president Lars Petersson. “A location in this retail corridor would provide our nearly 35,000 Hampton Roads customers their own store and introduce the unique Ikea shopping experience to others throughout southeast Virginia.”



The proposed Ikea Norfolk would feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 450-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties.



Other family-friendly features include a ‘children’s Ikea’ area in the showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking.



This project would represent the third significant investment by Ikea in the state of Virginia. Besides this proposed Norfolk store and the store in Woodbridge, there also is an Ikea furniture factory in Danville.