Units open: 175 worldwide
Areas of operation: CA, IL, MD, NJ, NY, PA, TX, WA, Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
Plans: 5 in 2003; 5 in 2004; 5 in 2005 (U.S. plans only)
Areas targeted: existing markets initially, then “compatible” new markets
Preferred store size: over 300,000 sq. ft.
Preferred locations: enclosed super regional mall, enclosed regional mall, power center, freestanding

No, I haven’t been taking Swedish. Ingvar Kamprad is the founder of one of the world’s foremost furniture retailers, and Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd, Sweden is his hometown. Take the titular initials, and come up with this retailer’s name: IKEA. Though chances are high that you’ve never been to an IKEA location - there are only 26 locations in North America, and only 15 in the United States - chances are higher that you’re at least familiar with this retailing powerhouse, either through catalogs or television commercials.

Mere mention of the words Amiral, Bonde, Grundtal, Effektiv and Stenskar can make IKEA devotees weak in the knees. With a reputation for inexpensive, trendy and good quality furniture and home accessories, IKEA is a haven for the young, hip and value conscious. IKEA’s U.S. consumers have been forced to take “day trips” to one of the 15 locations (currently in California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington) and spend hours and hours browsing through the huge showrooms, only to leave with packed cars filled with rooms worth of furniture.

That first part may change, however, over the next ten years, as the company looks to open five new U.S. stores per year through 2013. Plans are already in place for new locations to open this summer in College Park, MD; Paramus, NJ; and East Palo Alto, CA. While rumors and news stories abound regarding possible new locations for the furniture superstore (do a Google News search with the words “IKEA” and “plans” in it, and you’ll get over 60 current stories!), a few things have been confirmed. It looks as if the Mall of America will be site of IKEA’s first Minnesota location, and the company just received final regulatory approval (from the Department of Environmental Protection) to build Connecticut’s first IKEA, in the Long Wharf area of New Haven, incidentally less than two miles from where I currently live. Thankfully I have enough time to page through the most recent catalog and decide what I want, as the New Haven location isn’t expected to open until April 2004.

Square footage for the stores averages over 300,000 per location, and stores are typically found in enclosed regional and super regional malls, power centers and freestanding buildings. The company looks for demographics of 1.5 million people in a ten-mile radius.

For more information on IKEA, check out the company’s website at www.ikea.com, or contact the U.S. office at 496 West Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. Phone (610) 834-0180, fax (610) 834-0872. For inquiries regarding future stores, e-mail futurestores@memo.IKEA.com

Ideas? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail me at Thomas_donato@tradedimensions.com.