Ikea, Baby!!!
Omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh!!! They’re puting an Ikea in about forty minutes north of the city!!! Right around the corner from my mother’s house!!! I am more excited about this than I have been about anything in a very long time…I think I may need to go watch Fight Club in order to talk myself down. Yay! I heart Ikea! Woot, Butler County economic development!
WEST CHESTER TWP. – Trendy Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is building their Ohio store in this Butler County suburb.
Ikea will build a 300,000 or 350,000 square-foot store on a large vacant parcel adjacent to southbound Interstate 75 off Muhlhauser and Allen roads, Township Trustee George Lang said today.
Ikea, township and county officials are expected to make the announcement Tuesday at an 11 a.m. press conference at the township hall, 9113 Cincinnati-Dayton Rd.
“It will be huge. Assuming that tomorrow Ikea announces a West Chester location, that’s a major coup for West Chester because of the specialty type of retailer they represent,� Lang said.
“This will be their only store in the entire state so I am assuming they are drawing from hundreds of miles to attract customers there.�
Schumacher Dugan Construction is the developer of the Muhlhauser/Allen road site. Chris Wunnenberg, director of development, declined comment today.
County Administrator Derek Conklin and Lang said Ikea did not ask for a tax break.
“It never came on our radar screen,� Lang said.
Ikea officials could not immediately be reached for comment today. The retailer, which never asks for tax breaks, draws shoppers from hundreds of miles away.
With 250,000 Ohio customers, Ikea has been looking at Cincinnati for a store site, a company spokesman said earlier this summer.
But it’s also looking at Columbus, Cleveland and most other major U.S. markets, Ikea spokesman Joseph Roth has said.
The privately held chain opened its 28th store in June in Canton, Mich., near Detroit.
Ikea has more than 230 stores in 34 countries.
It opened its first U.S. store outside Philadelphia in 1985 and expects to have 50 U.S. stores in the next six or seven years.
Roth was noncommittal earlier this summer about recent speculation among local real estate brokers that Ikea was looking at sites along Interstate 75 in West Chester near Union Centre Boulevard.
West Chester officials have repeatedly declined comment on whether they’ve talked with Ikea representatives.
Ikea is expected to boost the visibility and attractiveness of the Union Centre Boulevard area, which has seen more than $1 billion in commercial development since the 1997 completion of a new highway interchange.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be the crown jewel,� Lang said, “but it will definitely accelerate the development of Union Centre. A lot of people are going to want to come here because Ikea is here.�
August 14th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
PS Kudos to Jenny T for bringing the news story to my attention. Are we still on for shopping Saturday a.m.? We really have reason to celebrate now…
August 14th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Grrr….extremely jealous!
August 15th, 2006 at 12:51 am
Be careful about those “must-have” yin-yang coffee tables…
August 15th, 2006 at 2:07 am
nice!!
August 15th, 2006 at 10:18 am
I’ve fallen in love with this woman:
http://www.verybigdesign.com/ikea/
Click on the logo at the top of her site, and the tagline under it changes. There is a variety of lovely Ohio-centric slogans (what, you didn’t know that astrophysicists have declared Ohio the center of the universe?).
A few of my favorites:
“Ikea in Ohio: Because Pittsburgh sucks.”
“Ikea in Ohio: Because we have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and NY doesn’t!)”
“Ikea in Ohio: Because we aren’t Indiana. Thank God.”
“Ikea in Ohio:Because Gunntorp is cooler looking than Longaberger any day (and 1/10 the price)”
“Ikea in Ohio: You don’t mention Kentucky, we won’t mention Finland.
“Ikea in Ohio: Because we’re kinda square, and that’s easier to flat-pack.”
“Ikea in Ohio: Save us from Lazarus, and forgive us for Elder Beerman.”
“Ikea in Ohio: We have our own Eiffel Tower. We’re more European than Canada!”
There are more generic taglines as well. Check it out!
Oh, and especially for Greg:
“Ikea in Ohio: Because those drunken bacon-eating b*stards up in Canada have one.”
New nickname, Greg: dbeb. Nobody’ll ever guess what it stands for.
August 15th, 2006 at 10:42 am
It’s official:
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AE/20060815/BIZ/608150371/-1/CINCI
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/NEWS01/608150337/-1/CINCI
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060815/BIZ01/608150324/1076
August 15th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Explore the cult:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/life/content/life/daily/080206lifeikea.html
August 15th, 2006 at 11:05 am
Ikea is for hippies!!!!!
And don’t make fun of Kentucky!!!
August 15th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Canada has more than one!! (Tho Winnipeg has none…. we’re instrinsically creative enough to not need a catalogue to dumb down style for us) Other than that the quote is spot-on. Mmmm (hic)….. bacon.
dbeb
p.s. Canada is more European than Europe so I think Ohio being more European than Canada is wishful thinking… by someone who’s probably never been to Canada.
August 15th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Heath and I just spent way too much money at Ikea. We re did the family room - new chair, new sofa, new coffee tables, and then we finished the kids’ clubhouse with shelving from Ikea, Ikea stools/footrests, a red, two seater sofa, and of course the Puong chair and footrest. Ikea is great. Our son has a loft bed and desk and we’re redecorating Summer’s room with Ikea furnishings, as well.
Heath’s grandmother is Scandinavian so he’s pretty much always had infinity towards Ikea. I just love all things Scandinavian! I love the lines and how set apart Scandinavian design is from the rest of Europe. Clean and beautiful!
BTW If you ask us, Finland rules!
August 15th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
dbeb: I grew up in New York State. We’ve been to Canada. And yes, you do have the prettier Falls.
Eric: I’m not a hippie and bourbon sucks. Geez. Friggin’ tobaccar farmers. Get off muh back.
Sue: My grandma’s half Swedish so she goes to Ikea just for the lingonberries and Ginger thin cookies. Lol.
August 15th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Oh, and Greg, don’t knock the Tower. It’s been around longer than you have. And it definitely makes us more European than anywhere in Canada…except maybe Montreal.
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/reviews/paramount’s_kings_island/eiffel_tower/
August 15th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Start saving your pennies, lady! I single handedly funded the opening of that store with my recent purchase!
I am sooooo excited for you. Now all you need is a cute apartment that deserves such awesomeness.
August 15th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Wooo hooooooo! I’m happy for you! I wish you could come to California and join me for my first trip to Ikea in a couple of weeks. Some friends and I are getting our own apartment mid-September, and Ikea will be our first stop!
August 15th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
I’ve never been to an Ikea…now that one is going to be just 27 minutes up the highway from me, I may have to succumb to the buzz of rampant commercialism. NO! Must resist…Ikea…can’t…be…sucked into…its vortex….
Well, maybe just once, for writerly reasons, of course. I may run into a character or three or six to use down the road. A fine rationalization. I must go!
I’m conflicted. Would Jesus shop at Ikea? Maybe I’ll see Him there.
August 15th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
Jesus would’ve been the one making the furniture. He was a carpenter, remember?
For that matter, at Ikea, everyone makes their own furniture. Nearly all of it comes broken down into pieces and flat-packed, because it’s cheaper to ship. So in a way Ikea allows everyone to become a little bit more like Jesus!
Rationalization saves the day again. It has now reached new heights…or lows.
August 16th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
Thanks Mel!!
P.S I L.O.V.E Ikea!!!
August 17th, 2006 at 6:07 am
Wow. So you’re pleased a new Ikea store is opening up near you?!
Rachel LOVES Ikea and I’m just really not that fussed…mainly coz we always come back with stuff we so don’t need!
August 17th, 2006 at 9:43 am
“So in a way Ikea allows everyone to become a little bit more like Jesus!”
Now, I really have heard everything. Ha.
August 17th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Well, folks who shop at Ikea get discount flatpack goodness, right? So they save, right?
And one of the wonderful things about Jesus, among many others, is that he saves. Right?
I’m just sayin’…
August 21st, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Hey IKEA rocks. I have one near work, not only does it provide lots of jobs for folk it also provides the BARGAIN CORNER. star shaped fairy lights for one english pound. IKEA is my friend.