IKEA, a home furnishings retailer, today announced it is submitting plans to the City of Oak Creek, Wis., for a store that would increase the Swedish company's presence in the Midwestern U.S. as its first store in the state.

Pending approvals, construction of IKEA Oak Creek could begin in Spring 2017 with an opening in Summer 2018. Located approximately 12 miles south of downtown Milwaukee, the 295,000-square-foot proposed IKEA store and its approximately 1,200 parking spaces would be built on 29 acres at the northwestern corner of Interstate 94 and Drexel Avenue.

Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. IKEA also will 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 Midwestern U.S. presence with a Milwaukee-area store," said IKEA U.S. President Lars Petersson. "A location in this retail corridor would provide our already 206,000 Milwaukee-area customers their own store and introduce the unique IKEA shopping experience to others throughout Wisconsin."

IKEA Oak Creek would feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children's play area and a 300-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 preferring parking. In addition to the more than 500 jobs that are expected during the construction phase, approximately 250 coworkers would join the IKEA family when the new store opens. IKEA Oak Creek also would provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools.

Drawing from its Swedish heritage and respect of nature, IKEA strives to minimize its operation's carbon emissions because reducing its environmental impact makes good business sense. IKEA evaluates locations regularly for conservation opportunities, integrates innovative materials into product design, works to maintain sustainable resources and flat-packs goods for efficient distribution.

Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function at affordable prices. There are currently more than 380 IKEA stores in 48 countries, including 41 in the U.S.

(Source: Furniture Today)