Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea has its eye on a location for a second Denver-area store in Broomfield, Colo., but said an opening would be “several years” away.

In a release, the retailer said the city has started the process of incorporating Ikea into a master-planned regional retail center along Interstate 25.  Ikea plans to purchase the 123-acre parcel 17 miles north of downtown Denver at the intersection of the interstate and E. Baseline Road, said Joseph Roth, head of Ikea US expansion/property public affairs.

“A store in this retail corridor would complement our strong presence established in Centennial and eventually provide customers in the northern part of the Front Range an Ikea store closer to them,” said Ikea U.S. President Lars Petersson.

Ikea’s Centennial, Colo., store opened in 2011.

The retailer didn’t disclose the size of the possible new store, but said it would have the same architectural design it’s known for and feature its nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a restaurant serving Swedish and American dishes.

It expects to create more than 500 jobs during the construction phase, and then add about 250 Ikea employees when the new store opens.

Ikea also said it would evaluate potential on-site power generation at the store after it opens, adding to its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of U.S. locations.

The retailer operates 380 stores in 48 countries, including 42 in the United States.

(Source: Furniture Today)