IKEA Enters Wisconsin Market

By Ioana Neamt

Architectural rendering of the proposed IKEA Oak Creek store in Wisconsin

Milwaukee—Home furnishings retailer IKEA is continuing its Midwest expansion with the development of its first store in the state of Wisconsin. The Swedish-based company has submitted plans to the city of Oak Creek, Wis., to open a 295,000-square-foot store roughly 12 miles south of downtown Milwaukee.

Construction on IKEA Oak Creek could begin in the spring of 2017, pending necessary approvals, with delivery scheduled for the summer of 2018. The 29-acre project would incorporate 1,200 parking spaces, nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 300-seat restaurant serving both Swedish and American dishes.

“We are excited at the possibility of growing our Midwestern U.S. presence with a Milwaukee-area store,” IKEA U.S. President Lars Petersson said in a prepared release. “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’s first Wisconsin store will be located at the northwestern corner of Interstate 94 and Drexel Avenue, and the company is also evaluating potential on-site power generation to complement its U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90 percent of its locations. The company’s U.S. sustainable efforts include: recycling waste material; energy-efficient HVAC and lighting systems; recycled construction materials; warehouse skylights; and water-conserving restrooms. IKEA has also installed electric vehicle charging stations at 13 locations and solar arrays at 90 percent of its U.S. locations.

The company is also currently working on its first Memphis store and two new distribution centers in Greater Chicago.

Rendering courtesy of IKEA