Indiana’s First IKEA Store to Open in 2017

By Adriana Pop

Fishers, Ind.—Plans are moving forward for IKEA’s first location in Indiana, which will bring hundreds of jobs to the region. The company has recently hired contractors to build its future Indianapolis-area store in Fishers, Ind.

Architectural rendering of IKEA Fishers, Ind.

The project’s groundbreaking will be celebrated on Oct. 18 and the store is expected to open by fall 2017.

Pepper Construction will serve as construction manager for the IKEA Fishers site work and store development project. The company has constructed several IKEA stores throughout the years, including one underway in Columbus, Ohio. Other partners include CBRE for site selection support; Faegre Baker Daniels for local land use counsel; Kimley-Horn for civil engineering; KJWW Engineering Consultants for structural; ACIES Engineering for mechanical, electrical and plumbing design; Earth Source for environmental services; and GreenbergFarrow as project architect.

Located about 15 miles northeast of downtown Indianapolis, the 289,000-square-foot store will include 1,000 parking spaces across 35 acres along the eastern side of Interstate 69, just south of the East 116th Street exit.

Upon completion, IKEA Fishers will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area and a 325-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 preferred parking.

Construction alone is expected to create 500 jobs, while about 250 permanent positions will be created when the store opens.

The new store will reflect the same architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. IKEA is also evaluating potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90 percent of its U.S. locations.

The Fishers location will increase the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Midwestern United States. Until the project is complete, customers in the region can shop at the Cincinnati-area store in West Chester, Ohio; Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook; and IKEA Schaumburg; or online.

Rendering courtesy of IKEA-USA