well i emailed ikea like i said i would.

 

so, wanna see the reply? ya sure????

 

eh, talk about non-committal:

 

 

 

"Hello,

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

 

We do recognize the potential customer base that exists for us in the

Cleveland area; however, with only 22 stores currently in the U.S.,

we have not committed to a timeframe for entering that market yet.

Currently, our focus is on building new stores in markets where we

already have a presence (Our economies of scale are what keep our

prices so low).

 

Your interest in IKEA coming to Ohio will be noted and forwarded to

the appropriate department.  Please feel free to check back with us

at a later date, as we are still developing our plans for 2005, 2006,

and 2007.  You can also visit our website, to view a list of stores

that are currently on our timeline:

 

Atlanta, GA            Summer 2005

Frisco, TX              Summer 2005

Bolingbrook, IL        Fall 2005

Stoughton, MA          Fall 2005

West Sacramento, CA    Spring 2006

 

We do hope that this information has been helpful, and we thank you

for your inquiry.

 

Best Regards,

Kimberly

IKEA Customer Care Center"

 

 

 

West Sacremento?? Didn't they just say they were focusing on markets that they have a presence in already? Are they using a whole state as a market?

I used to live in DC and they have three IKEA's there.  I have lots of IKEA stuff in my house.  In fact a lot of it has fallen a part.  You will go once or twice and never go again.  It is catered to twenty-somethings.  You don't see anyone else buying the stuff.  Cleveland is the most likely to get one.  Cincy would be good because you would draw DAY, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, and Indy.  I dont think it is as exciting as people think.

Well, its about as exciting as cheap furniture can get anyway.  It certainly beats the self-assembly furniture that one can get at Kmart or stuff that one would pull out of the garbage.  Of course while I'd love to have one here, by the time it happens, I'll hopefully be able to afford something better.

West Sacremento?? Didn't they just say they were focusing on markets that they have a presence in already? Are they using a whole state as a market?

 

I know there that is...sort of an odd location as this is sort of a bridgehead suburb of Sacto.  Yet I guess the areas to the west, across the Yolo Causeway (this is a long bridge over this very wide floodway...West Sac is sort of an "island" when there is a flood) are booming....

 

...and one of the booming areas is Davis, which is a college town, originally the "ag" campus of the University of California campus...The UC Davis Aggies....I guess the relationship to Sacramento is sort of like Bowling Green and Toledo.

 

 

 

 

 

I heard an IKEA could go into the banks project. Has anyone else heard of this idea?

 

^ Nope.  I don't think I'd want one there, either.

Hi I'm Jen I run the OH, Ikea! website! Thanks for the plug!

 

I haven't heard this Cleveland news but will post it ASAP when I get done here.

 

I have a few questions to validate this rumour, stuff I KNOW IKEA has to have:

IS there at least 25 acres? They ned alot of room. I know 25 acres is thier absolute minimum.

IS the land bordering a higwhay? And by bordering would a building there be CLEARLY VISABLE? They Like thier stores to be seen from the road. (nt that you could miss a cobalt blue block)

 

I've heard lots of Ohio rumors over the last couple years. The most solid was a coversation I had with a outer Columbus community manager, they confirmed they'd had IKEA folks in sniffing around.

 

I have a house full of IKEA stuff, and I've had little problem with any of it. Not even my couch we abuse! But the none of mine is over 5 years old. I know in the old days they had a rep for bad quality, but have been raising the standards.

 

Welcome to Urban Ohio, Jen!  I did enjoy surfing your website, very well done!

 

BTW, the Ikea in the Hoffman Estates/Schaumburg area outside of Chicago is a pretty interesting store and would be worth a visit if you like Ikea and are in Chicagoland.  This store has more than furniture.  They are also selling hardware and plumbing fixtures, too.  So that store, at least, has certainly branched out...

 

In any case, welcome to this site, and be sure to surf around and post a bit, too....:-)

Jen, welcome to the forum! Thanks for the info about your IKEA site - it's very informative.

 

As a fellow designer, I first came across verybigdesign.com about a year ago - I am just blown away, you are truly gifted and talented!  :-)

to add one jen's comments, i know ikea's had a few head butts (namely in michigan) for their color scheme, which goes against a lot of the exurbs building codes and ordinances....

hi jen,

 

i'm not sure about the 25 acre rule. ikea is building a new rather unique in-city ikea in brooklyn, ny.

 

i guess they can be flexible when they want to be.

ps -- the new ikea catalog came out today, all new ikea stuff!

 

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/virtual_catalogue/catalog_splash2.html

Cleveland would be a great place for Ikea.  There were so many people from  Cleveland who went to the Pittsburgh location that they now have a delivery to Cleveland set up for every Wednesday.  And despite OSU having 60,000 students (not a million) the greater Cleveland area is still larger than the greater Columbus area.  And Akron, Canton and Youngstown are all within an hour. 

^but the pull of ikea has proven that clevelanders are willing to drive two hours......

I've said it before, but Ikea now owns the abandoned home expo at Legacy, and the project to convert it inta a "new retail store" is out to bid for contractors.  I don't know if Ikea owns any other chain of large stores or not. 

this was a comment on a recent cleveland.com thread. anyone have any info? any truth to it?

 

"I believe that Mayor Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights was the one who essentially told IKEA (the huge and very desirable retailer that any other town would die for) that they couldn't build on the Warrensville Heights property of Chagrin Highlands because that city didn't need any more low-paying retail jobs in that city... (which seems like a joke, of course...) This was 3 or 4 years ago. I curse her to this day (literally). Would have put that city on the map, as I see it and provided jobs and large tax revenue --- ridiculous. Now Chagrin Highlands, as whole, has a maximum square footage for retail stores that is about 20% or less of what IKEA would need. IKEA has seemingly given up on our town - when Chagrin Highlands was where it naturally could have gone. Short-sighted, Mayor Fudge."

 

 

 

The story is long and complicated, but never involved IKEA, to the best of my knowledge. Here's the short version: the Chagrin Highlands were originally slated to become the new headquarters of Figgie, Inc, but that never happened, of course. Under the Voinovich administration, the land found its way into the hands of one Mr. Jacobs, who agreed to develop the site largely as an office park. As the last major greenfield in the City of Cleveland (partially, anyway), it's a very valuable site, made more so by the addition of the I-271 interchange at Harvard.

 

In 2001, Jacobs announced he was switching courses and wanted to develop big box retail on the site. While putting major retail on the site would have resulted in a much faster development and would have paid off more quickly for Jacobs, it was not what Mike White or the effected suburban mayors wanted to see. Since it's such a valuable site, the mayors were content to let the development progress more slowly if it meant bringing quality employers and jobs to an already over-retailed area. Jacobs eventually backed off his from his proposal, and the mostly-office developments are still underway.

 

Some background, if you want to read more:

Roldo:

http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php/Main/CityPoliticiansBeenVeeryVeeryGoodForTwo

 

Sun News:

http://www.sunnews.com/news/2001/0308/EBIGBOX.htm

http://www.sunnews.com/news/2001/0315/EHIGHLAN.htm

http://www.sunnews.com/news/2001/0412/EBOX.htm

http://www.sunnews.com/news/2001/0426/EJACOBS.htm

^That is the story I heard, but I also had heard that IKEA wanted to go there.  I think they were right to keep out big box retail from that area.

I would still like to see IKEA in the area

Maybe that is what they are planning at the old Mosler site in Hamilton. Imagine, the Ohio Ikea in Hamilton. Sweet!

I can't see Ikea in Hamilton.  Wherever it is built I would imagine it would be off an interstate.  I would love it to be in the city limits of Cincinnati but they need a large footprint and I can see it in Monroe or at the recently rezoned big box on 747 in Mason across from the future Mason Lifestyle Center near King's Island.  Unfortunately Ikea's aren't built in Urban Centers in most of our cities.  Look at Pittsburgh, it is out in Robinson.

 

 

 

I think they are building a second one in the Chicagoland area

I can't see Ikea in Hamilton.  Wherever it is built I would imagine it would be off an interstate.  I would love it to be in the city limits of Cincinnati but they need a large footprint and I can see it in Monroe or at the recently rezoned big box on 747 in Mason across from the future Mason Lifestyle Center near King's Island.  Unfortunately Ikea's aren't built in Urban Centers in most of our cities.  Look at Pittsburgh, it is out in Robinson.

 

You mean 741?

 

I think they are building a second one in the Chicagoland area

 

It opens today in a South suburb Bollingbrook

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0509280213sep28,1,1897945.story?coll=chi-news-hed

 

Two locations in Chicago should tide over the Swedish retailer for awhile, Ikea's Roth said. It aims to open about five U.S. stores a year.

 

"We typically require about 2 million people to support a store, but we went seven years with Schaumburg being the only store," Roth said. "And we're prepared to go quite awhile with Schaumburg and Bolingbrook being the Ikea presence in Chicagoland."

Hey all, jen from OHIKEA again, on the front page I have an update to the Legacy Village rumor - and that's all that it is. I found an article online from legacy Village that there is ABSOLULTELY NO TRUTH to the story.

 

Plus i get to rant about WHY it's not a good fit anyway....

 

http://www.verybigdesign.com/ikea/2005/09/enough.shtml#more

nice response jen on your site.

This was dated June 24th, but i just happen to find it.

 

Sweden's Ikea scouting sites in southwest Ohio

LISA BIANK FASIG and DAN MONK

DBJ Contributors

 

Several southwestern Ohio retail developers are competing to win one of Sweden's hottest imports.  But alas, Ikea's dance card might be full.  Real estate sources say the pocketbook-friendly furniture chain has been "in the market," actively scouting sites at Union Center Boulevard in Butler County and the Auto Nation property in Hamilton County's Forest Park. The retailer has gotten so many proposals that a spokesman said it is looking for a service to filter its many local inquiries.

 

Even the uninitiated want an Ikea.  "I don't know who the hell they are, but I'm willing to sell it to them," Jeff Wyler said.  But Ikea, which has gained a national following by combining fashion with function in everything from couches to shower curtains, said it has no short-term plans to open in Cincinnati, or Ohio for that matter.  "We're evaluating Cincinnati, just as we are evaluating other markets across the country, but we have not committed to a timeframe whatsoever," Ikea spokesman Joseph Roth said.

 

MORE: http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2005/06/27/story7.html?page=1

^don't fall for that slow opening bs, thats just a cheap and transparent marketing ploy. for example, there are several ikeas around the nyc area, the upcoming brooklyn ikea is not necessary. they pick and choose what they want to do there is no logic in it anymore.

 

by all means bombard them with emails, the total sum of emails from all over ohio will get one somewhere in-state much much quicker than just sitting back and waiting on ikea to pick oiut their own new sites. if you want an ikea in ohio act like you want the rock hall and barrage them with email!!!

Could Ohio be next?

Big cities hope as chain expands

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Shaheen Samavati

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

Detroit just got one.  Pittsburgh's had one for more than a decade.  Is Ohio now in the sights of this cheap-chic retailer with a cultlike following?  Maybe.

 

Ikea, the Swedish furniture seller, says it is evaluating Ohio's three major metropolitan markets -- Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati -- as potential store locations. But it's also looking at every other major market as it seeks to grow from 28 American stores to 50.

 

"Ohio has been a little perplexing for us because Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati are all major metropolitan areas in fairly close proximity to each other," said Ikea expansion spokesman Joseph Roth. "Do you put one on the northeast side of Columbus? The southeast side of Cleveland? It just requires a more thoughtful and strategic approach."

 

MORE: http://www.plaindealer.com

I would have thought that land on Kings Mills in Mason would have been ideal but apparently we need another Target in this metro.

I think Cleveland and maybe Steelyard Commons would be an excellent spot for Ikea. However with Pittsburgh and Detroit having one, I bet they will go to Columbus or Cincinnati. It should have come to Cleveland first, because it would be a great spot in the middle of all those metro-areas. I think Ikea screwed up. I heard rumors that Legacy Village was pursuing Ikea for its vaccant Home Depot Expo Design Center.

I think the site of the old K-mart/Auto Nation across the road from the Mills Mall in Cincy would be great spot.

I use to go to the Ikea in Tustin Ranch all the time...

 

A while back when the discussion was about the banks developer, I brought up Atlantic Station in Atlanta... which would be awesome for the banks since the whole project is built above parking garages... I forgot to mention that one of the anchors is an IKEA which I frequent all the time... AND WHAT A DRAW.... the place is always packed... just bought some office furniture there this weekend... I probably go there at least once a month... here's their website http://www.atlanticstation.com/... love the question on the homepage    "what stores would you like to see"

 

 

 

 

SO I SAY... build it at the BANKS... what a draw for downtown...

oh... by the way... the whole "the district" section is above 3 stories of parking which you can see for I-75...

Ikea would be a fantastic draw for any downtown Ohio city, but unfortunetly I'm not sure if there is quite enough vacant space to accomodate the space Ikea needs to build a store. It seems to require a lot of land - even more so than the average big box store. It is a shame though, because I do believe this is one retailer where no matter where it is located - people will go to it. Those are the type of retailers we need in our downtowns. The closest we could probably get an Ikea to downtown Cleveland would probably be in the Steelyard Commons development, but I don't think it will end up there at this point should it come to Cleveland.

Logically, Columbus would be the top choice.  Only an hour and a half from Cincinnati; hour from Dayton; West Virginia's larger cities; Indianapolis; and perhaps some Clevelanders (though they already go to Pittsburgh); and I'm sure Toledo/Northwest Ohioans now go to Canton Township, Detroit.

 

So Columbus...yeah...duh.

Would you guys really drive 3-4 hours round trip to pick up a piece of cheap furniture? I would just have it shipped, if it's possible.

^ No, but when I was in Pittsburgh I did stop off at Ikea and pick up a few items.

Would you guys really drive 3-4 hours round trip to pick up a piece of cheap furniture? I would just have it shipped, if it's possible.

 

I completely agree!!! I'd rather save the transport cost of money and time, and invest in a little better quality furniture offered near home. However, if an IKEA was within an hour of where I lived, I would probably go to it.

Why don't they just have little satellite stores in every large metro with their most popular merchandise?

Ikea is pretty crappy for big stuff.  They are kind of like Payless shoes of furniture.  It looks good when it is brand new, but soon it starts to look its price.

 

HOWEVER, their little decoration, kitchen stuff, glasses, lamps, small pillows, mirrors and the like are really cool, well made, and a great price. 

 

 

Ikea is pretty crappy for big stuff.  They are kind of like Payless shoes of furniture.  It looks good when it is brand new, but soon it starts to look its price.

 

HOWEVER, their little decoration, kitchen stuff, glasses, lamps, small pillows, mirrors and the like are really cool, well made, and a great price. 

 

I think I read somewhere that the county was looking to sell 11 acres in Chigrin Highlands.....

 

 

Steiner is developing the Greene in the Southern Suburbs of Dayton right now, and it could be an ideal place for an Ikea. It would sit right of the Interstate and would only be a 30-45 minute drive for most of the people from Cincinnati. Only about and hour and 10 minutes for the Columbus residents.....and you have it sitting right in the middle of the wealthiest suburbs in Dayton. It could pull in the 3.3 million that is going to be Cin-Day region. The location would be about the same drive for a person living in Mason (Cincy) as it would for someone in the Northern Suburbs (Clayton) of Dayton....

 

It'll probably never happen, but I do think it would be a great location that would pull in a HUGE amount of customers.......

 

Hi All,

 

 

I was very underwhelmed with my one and only visit to Ikea. The place is very overrated. Bear hugz to all.

 

Jim S.

Ikea is pretty crappy for big stuff.  They are kind of like Payless shoes of furniture.  It looks good when it is brand new, but soon it starts to look its price.

 

HOWEVER, their little decoration, kitchen stuff, glasses, lamps, small pillows, mirrors and the like are really cool, well made, and a great price. 

 

I think I read somewhere that the county was looking to sell 11 acres in Chigrin Highlands.....

 

 

 

Wow... I feel the exact opposite. My father is a deppression era good ole boy from between Cadiz and Stuebenville and even his pain in the but ass thinks IKEAs quality is first rate... I've been nothing but impressed..

Would you guys really drive 3-4 hours round trip to pick up a piece of cheap furniture?

 

Guilty.

Steiner is developing the Greene in the Southern Suburbs of Dayton right now, and it could be an ideal place for an Ikea.

 

The place for an Ikea would be a site like Union Centre when it was just getting developed...flat, with tons of open space for parking, and an unobstruted view from the freeway of the big blue and yellow Ikea big box.

 

They are looking for a very high-viz location, and somewhat of a stand-alone location.

 

One of the things I noticed about the Chicago (Schaumberg) Ikea when i was up there was that they had archtectural speciatlies/hardware and plumbing items (doorknobs, casework, handles, hinges, bathroom & kitchenfixtures & fittings), so it wasn't just a furniture store.

 

Looking at their website, they don't really seem cheap to me, especially for how basic a lot of it is. New furniture period just seems like it costs more than it should. Over 50 bucks just for a bar stool? It makes me want to build my own furniture.

My notable quotable on Ikea is that it's for people with more taste than money.

 

I've made the trek to Chicago from Detroit several times and have few regrets. Ikea's stuff is generally well-designed and I've paid more for flimsier. It's easy to overdo it, though. One endtable too many and your place looks like Jack's condo in Fight Club or Peter Gibbons' apartment in Office Space. With equal measures of taste and restraint, however, your place can come off like a house from a 1970's Ingmar Bergman movie, and that's all right in my book.

 

When you look at a magazine like Dwell and catalogs like DWR you realize quickly that Ikea is knocking off some pretty sweet (expensive) stuff. Then you notice that Target is ripping off Ikea, and then sometimes you even see that smartly packaged consumer design occasionally trickles all the way down the the depths of Walmart. Not that often, though. But I'm no expert on Walmart.

 

Mainly Ikea is ideal for the modern urban dweller because the design is informed by European taste and scale, ie, cool furniture that physically fits into smaller spaces. Anyone who's shopped a typical American furniture store can see that we're still reeling from the big couch 90s. [sHUDDER].

 

And yes: Ikea belongs in Columbus. Costco is coming to Polaris, Ikea might as well, too.

 

But I'm biased.

 

KF

 

I agree with kingfish about people with more taste than money...and how nicely it rips off high end design. I don't think it is just for college students at all. We have mixed IKEA with mid century thrift store furniture and art deco period (both real and quality re creation) and darned if it doesn't go great. As with any furniture store you should not get all your stuff from one place. No place should look like you bought the store out the same day. that said I have to put serious restant on myself when it comes to Ikea as I am "at capacity" I have a dining table and chairs, a buffet (not from same collection of course-the whole matching thing does not work for me) and a couple of chairs spread around the place.  I am a huge IKEA fan an go once or twice a year (to Pittsburgh), but  part of me likes having things that not everyone else has. People ask if it is DWR or CB2 (both more costly). If they open one in Cleveland suddenly those of us that make the trip to Pittsburgh are not so cool anymore!

And I quote MayDay, "It is like Old Navy, great to accessorize but you wouldn't want your whole wardrobe in it".