So what is it? Cleveland's big bad reputation? That Columbus got a store and Cleveland didn't is a real FU to Cleveland by Ikea. 

 

How does Columbus having an IKEA a "FU" to Cleveland?  Columbus is a growing market so it makes sense that IKEA opened there.  I don't know why Cleveland hasn't been selected but it has nothing to do with Columbus.  That's like Columbus folks saying it's a slap in the face that Cincinnati-Dayton got one first.  There is no correlation.

^Its because Columbus is a much smaller market than Cleveland. Columbus is around 2M, but Cleveland is around 4.5M. (The Cleveland store would draw from Cleveland (3M) plus Canton and Youngstown areas.) Even if Columbus is growing, it will be a long time before it surpasses Cleveland.

I like how most Clevelanders like to have it both ways. Columbus is only populated because it is one giant suburb via annexation. But then turn to market size to show how much bigger Cleveland is. An area of 8,500 square miles, almost triple that of Columbus's CSA, encompassing every suburb and small town in the entire NEO.

 

Back on track, Columbus's median age is ~34. Cleveland's is 36. GDP/capita is higher in Columbus. Also the aforementioned growth vs decline. The Columbus IKEA is positioned on the far north end of town for a couple reasons. 1. All the wealthiest zip codes in Columbus surround Polaris. 2. It's not unreasonably far from some in the Cleveland area. And another lot of them are closeish to the Pittsburgh location.

 

Also, they probably have credit card data on whom is coming from where to buy their stuff. Obviously they feel Cleveland is not a top priority now. That doesn't mean it will never happen. More money is to be made in other markets right now.

So what is it? Cleveland's big bad reputation? That Columbus got a store and Cleveland didn't is a real FU to Cleveland by Ikea. 

 

How does Columbus having an IKEA a "FU" to Cleveland?  Columbus is a growing market so it makes sense that IKEA opened there.  I don't know why Cleveland hasn't been selected but it has nothing to do with Columbus.  That's like Columbus folks saying it's a slap in the face that Cincinnati-Dayton got one first.  There is no correlation.

 

 

 

Agreed, CDM. It’s not like the powers that be at IKEA sat around and said “how can we stick it to Cleveland?”

 

If people are really that upset that Columbus or anywhere else has an IKEA and Cleveland doesn’t, it just reflects their own insecurity. Of all the things to worry about in Cleveland, this is towards the bottom of the list.

I hate to bring a thread back to life when there's no news, but another Atlanta location was just announced this week for IKEA.  So I did a little research and it looks like a location will open in Milwaukee this coming Spring.  I think it might be safe to say IKEA may never come to Cleveland.  They have been looking for locations in Cleveland for 12 years, but nothing has come to fruition in that time.  There are multiple sites in Cleveland they can go after.  I wonder what makes Cleveland an outlier to IKEA?  A bad economy?  Declining population?  Just seems odd. 

I really don't think it's how Ikea would perform in Cleveland, rather how would a Cleveland store effect Columbus and Pittsburgh.  With a Columbus store on the North end of that metro, and Pittsburgh store on the north end of that metro, that would put three stores in potentially too close proximity for their liking.  And who knows what those stores balance sheets look like.  Maybe they're not strong enough to take the blow of Clevelander's gaining their own location.

 

If the Pittsburgh and Columbus IKEAs rely so much on Cleveland, then it's not saying much for those markets.  1/3 of Pittsburgh's IKEA sales are from Cleveland?  Cincinnati has an IKEA within the Columbus and Indianapolis markets as well; these 3 markets are all relatively the same size so I don't buy that the PIT/COL IKEAs are blocking a Cleveland store.

 

Btw, what's the big deal about IKEA?  Is it some kind of status symbol to have a mediocre ''department'' store in a city/region?  Lots of its goods are cheap.

I like how most Clevelanders like to have it both ways. Columbus is only populated because it is one giant suburb via annexation. But then turn to market size to show how much bigger Cleveland is. An area of 8,500 square miles, almost triple that of Columbus's CSA, encompassing every suburb and small town in the entire NEO.

 

Back on track, Columbus's median age is ~34. Cleveland's is 36. GDP/capita is higher in Columbus. Also the aforementioned growth vs decline. The Columbus IKEA is positioned on the far north end of town for a couple reasons. 1. All the wealthiest zip codes in Columbus surround Polaris. 2. It's not unreasonably far from some in the Cleveland area. And another lot of them are closeish to the Pittsburgh location.

 

Also, they probably have credit card data on whom is coming from where to buy their stuff. Obviously they feel Cleveland is not a top priority now. That doesn't mean it will never happen. More money is to be made in other markets right now.

 

Cleveland has an MSA, a CSA, and a ''region'' known as NEO.  So, it starts at just over 2 million (MSA), jumps to 3.5 million (CSA), and jumps to about 4.5 million (NEO).  There are a lot of people in and aoround Cleveland.  Add in the fact that most of IKEAs goods are cheap to inexpensive and the ''prosperity'' argument folds. 

 

So for some reason, IKEA locates in two smaller CSA areas closer to Cleveland and avoids the larger one in Cleveland?

 

High-end Nordstrom has locations in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.  Lower end IKEA can't be placed in Cleveland because of Pittsburgh/Columbus? Please.

My Mom could single-handedly make a Cleveland Ikea profitable.

 

Edit: Ikea clearly has an interest in Cleveland. They've flirted with the Cleveland market for years.

Flirting isn't commitment. After a while, flirting gets old. Time for Cleveland to court the competition.

Getting an Ikea 10 years ago would have been noteworthy. At this point, places like Overstock offer a larger selection with free shipping. I would take Ikea just for the local sales tax, but I wouldn't count on it being a major draw. The demographic that typically buys cheap furniture is buying more and more online.

Actually, there are too many IKEA locations now.  The merchandise has gotten worse over the last few years as well. Particularly, kitchen and bath cabinetry quality. Not that it was ever a selling point, but it's getting laughable.  Lighting seems lackluster the last year or so.

^Most stuff like that has been terrible since the '90s and now it's worse? Ugh.

I just don't get the Ikea hype and the hand ringing over not having one.  If they come, great, let's keep the local tax dollars and maybe bring some nearby money in, but I'm not losing sleep over being the last city in Ohio / in the USA / on earth or whatever to get an Ikea.  At this point I'm more interested in the Amazon distribution centers being built in Randall and Euclid replacing dead malls.  More jobs than Ikea and connects to the future of retail and not the big box model that's trying to find ways to adjust to the Amazon's of the world anyway. 

That 2.0 million population vs. 4.5 million isn’t an accurate comparison.  How about Franklin Co. vs. Cuyahoga Co? Anyway, think of all the kinds of stores Greater Clevekand has where people might be able to purchase similar products to what Ikea offers, which Greater Columbus may not have!

I just don't get the Ikea hype and the hand ringing over not having one.  If they come, great, let's keep the local tax dollars and maybe bring some nearby money in, but I'm not losing sleep over being the last city in Ohio / in the USA / on earth or whatever to get an Ikea.  At this point I'm more interested in the Amazon distribution centers being built in Randall and Euclid replacing dead malls.  More jobs than Ikea and connects to the future of retail and not the big box model that's trying to find ways to adjust to the Amazon's of the world anyway. 

 

There aren't any other Amazons.

That 2.0 million population vs. 4.5 million isn’t an accurate comparison.  How about Franklin Co. vs. Cuyahoga Co? Anyway, think of all the kinds of stores Greater Clevekand has where people might be able to purchase similar products to what Ikea offers, which Greater Columbus may not have!

They're both around 1.25 million. I don't get the point.

^Ultimately, what's the point of comparing county populations? Markets aren't based on invisible lines marking political entities.

 

Re Amazon, I know I'm probably in the increasing minority, but I'm not a fan of Amazon and really prefer to buy things after I can see and touch them. I'd shop at an Ikea any day over Amazon. And if I do have to buy online instead of locally, I use jet.com or product-specific sites like bn.com, based on what i'm buying.

Anyway, think of all the kinds of stores Greater Clevekand has where people might be able to purchase similar products to what Ikea offers, which Greater Columbus may not have!

 

Like what? I can't really think of any stores that are comparable to IKEA, let alone "all kinds" that also have locations in Cleveland but not Columbus

 

Edit: Unless this post was sarcasm?

I can't believe this thread is still going. 

 

I remember a memorable drive during the winter of 2010 or 2011, at the bottom of the recession.  I drove from the middle of Michigan (Lansing or Battle Creek, I can't remember) south to Cincinnati on I-75.  There wasn't a damn thing under construction or even anything that looked new all the way from Detroit south to...the bright blue brand-new Ikea in West Chester.  So 200 miles of gray and white, and then bam.  It was like driving around the badlands of Mexico until all the sudden you see a brand-new Toyota dealership. 

^Agree...this thread needs to die until there is some kind of announcement.

^Agree...this thread needs to die until there is some kind of announcement.

 

If we waited for formal announcements about possible new developments, this entire forum would die.

I can't believe this thread is still going. 

 

I remember a memorable drive during the winter of 2010 or 2011, at the bottom of the recession.  I drove from the middle of Michigan (Lansing or Battle Creek, I can't remember) south to Cincinnati on I-75.  There wasn't a damn thing under construction or even anything that looked new all the way from Detroit south to...the bright blue brand-new Ikea in West Chester.  So 200 miles of gray and white, and then bam.  It was like driving around the badlands of Mexico until all the sudden you see a brand-new Toyota dealership. 

 

Then why add to it?  It would be nice if some of that new development would actually move south into the city limits of Cincinnati.

 

 

^Agree...this thread needs to die until there is some kind of announcement.

 

If we waited for formal announcements about possible new developments, this entire forum would die.

 

True...lol

if and when they do open one around ne ohio everybody needs to go to the ribbon cutting and give them the gerald simpson's baby stare

 

 

 

This article from the Dispatch from back in June seems to indicate that possibly the local politicos in Cleveland aren't playing nicely?

 

“To put the (Ikea building) blue box up is not a problem,” Petersson said. Finding the right culture on the other hand, “it’s not always easy. But here (in Columbus), we’ve found a fantastic collaborative atmosphere."

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170606/with-columbus-store-ready-to-open-ikea-now-focused-on-cleveland

To my knowledge, they've only dealt with suburbs in Greater Cleveland. Unless they're slamming the county?

It does sound like they ran across political problems.  We only know for certain about the wetlands in Brooklyn issue.

Ikea in the Steelyard? There is A TON OF SPACE, it's right by the freeway and only minutes from growing neighborhood's (Tremont/Downtown). They could even tear down the old best buy and build it there.

There is no enough space at Steel yard to meet the requirements of Ikea.

^If I recall correctly, IKEA requires 27-29 acres of space. Steelyard certainly has that. Steelyard would be perfect except not all of the highway traffic could easily see an "IKEA" sign as Ikea seems to like. But it would certainly be a great location for both IKEA and the city and the county.

^Again as stated before, there is not enough land available for an IKEA at Steelyard. The largest available open space at Steelyard is only 11-12 acres, plus there are a few smaller pieces of land still available for development.

 

The Best Buy site is being redeveloped currently for a fitness facility, and even if that were not happening, the former Best Buy site would not be big enough for IKEA.

 

If IKEA would have been planned from the time Steelyard Commons was first proposed, then yes IKEA could have been a part of the development, but now retail already there would have to be removed to make room for an IKEA. I do not see this happening.

I just did an IKEA search and they plan to open a store outside Milwaukee next summer. Milwaukee?? A metro area much smaller than Cleveland's. There must be some weird dynamics going on for Cleveland's failure to attract a store. But forget IKEA. Cleveland should be trying to attract more Trader Joe's. Something everyone can use!

Milwaukee has 600,000 people, six Fortune 500s, quite a few vibrant and safe neighborhoods, a fantastic, accessible waterfront, and is only 90 miles from Chicagoland. I don't know much about Ikea, and am frankly fascinated that its absence warrants so much conversation, but can see how Milwaukee is a more attractive market.

 

^Ikea is large box store. Not hating on Milwaukee, but it's significantly smaller than Cleveland. This is what's so surprising about the Milwaukee announcement.  We may be over thinking this. Ikea clearly has interest in the region. They had the Brooklyn site until the EPA stepped in. It's not like they haven't been trying.

^Ikea is large box store. Not hating on Milwaukee, but it's significantly smaller than Cleveland. This is what's so surprising about the Milwaukee announcement.  We may be over thinking this. Ikea clearly has interest in the region. They had the Brooklyn site until the EPA stepped in. It's not like they haven't been trying.

 

Milwaukee proper has over 700,000

It's actually about 600,000, metro a little over 2 million

 

Metro Cleveland is larger than Metro Milwaukee.

I recall that IKEA has, indicated they want something central to NEO and accessible to Akron/Canton. The more things move away from 480/77 and towards downtown/Steelyard,  or far east or west, the less appealing the site is for the overall NEO market.

 

As for metro Milwaukee (1.5+ million smaller than NEO) - those not familiar with the metro or the IKEA store location in Oak Creek, a southern suburb (I lived in MKE for 5 years) - should understand that MIlwaukee is as short a drive (an easy 40-60 mins) for those in northern Chicago suburbs - as those suburbs would often be to the original (of 2 in Chicagoland) Schaumburg IKEA store, in moderate or worse traffic. This is really Chicago store 2.5.

It has less to do with population and more of where the money is.

^ummmm...by that are you trying suggest there's money in Milwaukee than Cleveland? That's laughable. If Chicago has two stores already, you can't count Chicago money.  There is far more money in CLE than Milwaukee--no matter how great of a town Milwaukee is.

 

According to the US Dept of Labor--Real Personal Income -- 2015:

 

Milwaukee MSA (Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI): $80.0B

Cleveland MSA:  $98.5B

 

But since the Cleveland Ikea would draw at least from the CLE, Akron, and Canton MSAs (not to mention Sandusky, Ashtabula, and Youngstown areas), here's the total for CLE-Akron-Canton MSAs:  $146.3B -- that's 1.8x the size of Milwaukee--almost TWICE the amount of money.  [source, BLS, 2015].

 

I agree with whoever said it earlier: there's definitely something strange for Ikea when it comes to Cleveland. As a major company, you don't ignore a $150B market in preference for smaller ones unless there's good reason.

 

It all makes sense now. IKEA is dragging their feet in Cleveland because they're angling to locate inside Tower City.

 

Dream On

-Aerosmith

 

The Tiny Ikea of the Future, Without Meatballs or Showroom Mazes

The world’s biggest furniture retailer wants younger shoppers who don’t drive.

By Carol Matlack

 

Whether in San Diego, Novosibirsk, or Tokyo, the Ikea experience is almost as standardized as its flat packs. The blue-and-yellow big box, the vast showroom maze, the Swedish meatballs in the cafeteria—this formula propelled Ikea of Sweden AB to global No. 1 in furniture retailing, with €38.3 billion ($45.7 billion) in sales and more than 400 stores in 49 countries.

 

There are no meatballs in Ikea’s newest London outlet, part of a shopping mall in a redeveloped urban neighborhood near the 2012 Summer Olympics complex. One of two dozen small-scale stores that Ikea has opened since 2015, it measures only 900 square meters (2,550 square feet), while the typical suburban Ikea sprawls across more than 25,000 square meters. It has a few model rooms fitted out with furniture and accessories, but hardly anything can be purchased and taken home immediately. Instead, shoppers use touchscreen computers to place orders and arrange for delivery or pickup later.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-10/the-tiny-ikea-of-the-future-without-meatballs-or-showroom-mazes

It’s kind of funny that little ol’ Dayton has three IKEAs that are all closer to Dayton than either the Pittsburgh or Columbus IKEA is to Cleveland.

 

Actually, Dayton probably has the most IKEAs-per-capita within driving distance in the US!

It all makes sense now. IKEA is dragging their feet in Cleveland because they're angling to locate inside Tower City.

 

Dream On

-Aerosmith

 

The Tiny Ikea of the Future, Without Meatballs or Showroom Mazes

The world’s biggest furniture retailer wants younger shoppers who don’t drive.

By Carol Matlack

 

Whether in San Diego, Novosibirsk, or Tokyo, the Ikea experience is almost as standardized as its flat packs. The blue-and-yellow big box, the vast showroom maze, the Swedish meatballs in the cafeteria—this formula propelled Ikea of Sweden AB to global No. 1 in furniture retailing, with €38.3 billion ($45.7 billion) in sales and more than 400 stores in 49 countries.

 

There are no meatballs in Ikea’s newest London outlet, part of a shopping mall in a redeveloped urban neighborhood near the 2012 Summer Olympics complex. One of two dozen small-scale stores that Ikea has opened since 2015, it measures only 900 square meters (2,550 square feet), while the typical suburban Ikea sprawls across more than 25,000 square meters. It has a few model rooms fitted out with furniture and accessories, but hardly anything can be purchased and taken home immediately. Instead, shoppers use touchscreen computers to place orders and arrange for delivery or pickup later.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-10/the-tiny-ikea-of-the-future-without-meatballs-or-showroom-mazes

At first glance, I thought this entry might be a joke...wrong.  IKEA may actually introduce such a "new concept" store somewhere within urban Cleveland, rather than just another big-box outlet somewhere out in a suburb.  A radically downsized, urban IKEA would be guaranteed to attract both a large number of young shoppers and the envy of other peer cities. 

I have it from a source I can't name (but you can probably guess if you know me) that IKEA is definitely coming to Garfield Heights. Obviously it hasn't been announced formally, but the behind-the-scenes stuff has started! :-)

I have it from a source I can't name (but you can probably guess if you know me) that IKEA is definitely coming to Garfield Heights. Obviously it hasn't been announced formally, but the behind-the-scenes stuff has started! :-)

Keep an eye on this development  :wink:

 

http://realestate.cleveland.com/realestate-news/2017/09/bridgeview_crossing_site_in_ga.html#comments

 

;)

I wonder if Cleveland has missed (for good) the first wave of monster IKEA stores.  Today's FT quotes their CEO Jesper Brodin saying that the big-box drive-in-and-pick-up suburban days are over and the retailer will concentrate on "city centres" with affordable home delivery. They are planning ten early openings in the usual mega-cities - New York, London, Tokyo, etc.

Not sure if CLE will miss the big store trend or not or if small stores are more for Europe, etc... The original CLE plan was for around 350K sf which is on the bigger side (recent Indy opening <300K sf but Columbus around 350K sf). 

 

What I do know is that IKEA generally only makes new store announcements on Tuesdays or Thursdays in US...  with rumors usually breaking the prior day, so am paying more attention on Mondays and Wednesdays for the coming months. Today is Wed so when I saw the post pop up... Well...

^ Sorry to disappoint you.  Brodin was speaking in the UK but his comments seemed to cover the whole company. Lots of experimenting is going on in terms of format and more specialized merchandising. Here's a shorter free version of the article.

 

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2018/04/ikea-ceo-announced-dramatic-transformation-plans/

 

Work on widening the Transportation Blvd overpass over 480 has begun - with support columns going up now. This has been long planned to prepare for development at this exit, but is hopefully another plus to a hopeful IKEA Garfield Heights location.

^ Sorry to disappoint you.  Brodin was speaking in the UK but his comments seemed to cover the whole company. Lots of experimenting is going on in terms of format and more specialized merchandising. Here's a shorter free version of the article.

 

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2018/04/ikea-ceo-announced-dramatic-transformation-plans/

 

Well, Dougal was right to sound the alarm above on Ikea's future US plans - and we may now know why no CLE/Garfield Heights announcement, when it seemed so imminent:  3 new suburban stores Ikea already announced and that were in the works - including the first stores planned for fast-growth Nashville and Raleigh - were cancelled in the last week - with no mention of alternate locations in those areas that might be more in keeping with Ikea's new small/urban approach.

 

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/05/29/ikea-store-location-nashville-antioch-near-me/654149002/

 

It would be good to think that perhaps a Tower City Ikea showroom might be a great new, urban-Ikea solution for CLE (shop there to look and touch... order online) - but not holding my breath...

 

 

 

I prefer the idea of shipping direct to Cleveland and putting the store north of the CBS. It would be likely the cheapest solution. A Cleveland Ikea port could supply Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Columbus as well.