Melissa Ross
Home furnishing giant IKEA has set hearts aflutter in Jacksonville, announcing it plans to start construction next summer and open a new location in Duval County in the fall of 2017.
The proposed store will be 294,000 square feet, sited at the intersection of Gate Parkway and I-295 near the St. Johns Town Center.
IKEA, which features affordable, assemble-your-own stylish designs and boasts a global, cultlike following, doesn’t normally open a new store in metros of less than 2 million people. So the news is a major win for the fledgling Lenny Curry administration, who calls the announcement “huge.” Curry says IKEA (so far) is not receiving taxpayer incentives to set up shop in Jacksonville.
“There are very few things you can say in a sentence or a word. The headline is IKEA. This will draw, serve not only the demographics in our city, but also draw from out of the state and create jobs.”
The construction process is expected to create about 500 jobs, while the permanent store will employ around half that, according to the company.
The Swedish company has 41 U.S. stores across the U.S., with four existing locations in Florida. If the permitting process is approved, construction on the new IKEA store would begin in 2016.
