It’s official, assemble-it-yourself furniture and Swedish meatball lovers. The Maritimes is finally getting an IKEA.
The retail giant plans to open a full-size store in Dartmouth Crossing, with IKEA Canada President Stefan Sjostrand and Halifax Mayor Mike Savage on hand for the announcement at the St. Mary’s Boat Club Friday morning.
“I want to thank IKEA for hearing the chorus of voices eager to see a store open in our city,” said Savage. “This store will be a significant employer and a big draw for the entire Halifax region.”
The Swedish retailer said it will take roughly 14 to 16 months to build the store once the ground is broken this summer.
Sjostrand said the 328,000 square-foot store will include a showroom, playroom and restaurant featuring the company's signature Swedish meatballs.
IKEA Canada expects the project will create 500 jobs.
The company said the Dartmouth Crossing IKEA will also be the most sustainable location in Canada, with rooftop solar panels providing electricity to the building, a geothermal energy generation system for heating and cooling and LED lighting throughout the store.
"It's so important to work towards sustainability. Sustainability should not be a luxury for a few, it should be available to many," said Sjostrand, adding that Ikea sold more than one million LED bulbs in Canada over the past year.
"If we can support our customers to live a more sustainable life at home, that could have a huge impact on their environment."
Sjostrand said the company is aiming to be energy independent by 2020.
Before the store opens, the company said it plans to conduct interviews at 100 homes to get a sense of how Maritimers live and determine how to best fit their needs.
There are currently no IKEA stores in the Maritimes, although the retailer’s first North American store opened in Dartmouth in 1975. It closed in the late 1980s, with the company citing a too-small market.
“We're at about 520,000 to 525,000 now, so we're at a pretty good base to support an IKEA store,” NSCC business instructor Ed McHugh told CTV News earlier this week.
McHugh feels a store like IKEA could help boost the region’s economy.
“What you will have is people from outside of Halifax, Dartmouth, Sackville, Bedford area who will drive to Halifax for a shopping trip, and IKEA will be certainly one of them,” he said.
Sjostrand said the decision to set up shop in the Halifax area came after more than a year of site visits and consultations and was based on factors such as population and location accessibility.
"It's important that we're close to where the main traffic is, so we can reach as many people as possible," he said.
"There was also a site ready for us, so that speeded up the process to become the first stop on this fantastic expansion journey we have in front of us."
IKEA has 375 stores in more than 50 countries worldwide.
In November, IKEA Canada announced plans to expand from coast-to-coast, doubling its store count from 12 to 24 stores over the next 10 years.
With files from The Canadian Press
