IKEA in St. Louis

DogtownBnR · PostJul 01, 2009#2012009-07-01T20:52+00:00

Ikea has no current plans to build anywhere in St. Louis.

I would be convinced that it will NEVER happen when they say that they have no current or future plans in this area.....forever!

Seriously, I don't really care if they come or not. I think this would be a good market for them, but either way, we will get furniture, maybe not as cheap, but we'll survive.

stlmike · PostJul 01, 2009#2022009-07-01T22:41+00:00

I don't mean to say it will never happen, but if they have no current plans that means they probably aren't interested right now or for a while. I guess I don't see the point in talking about "where it should go" if they presently aren't interested in our metro.

Alex Ihnen · PostJul 02, 2009#2032009-07-02T04:04+00:00

^ then don't click on this topic any further. problem-solved.

stlmike · PostJul 02, 2009#2042009-07-02T05:15+00:00

No need to be like that. I understand that it can be fun to think about it and all, and I'm guilty of fantasizing about city improvements as much as the next guy. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that it was their current stance because it was a few pages back. No matter what people are saying, I would continue to click on this topic and read it because when I see that it's updated, I don't yet know what the update is-- there is the possibility that there could be substantial news OR opinion. You never know.

streetsabby · PostJul 02, 2009#2052009-07-02T05:59+00:00

southsidepride wrote:I'm just worried this will be Planet Hollywood all over again.

St. Louis gets one five minutes before no one gives a damn about the place anymore.

very true. I'm afraid this will also happen to City Garden. Let's hope to heck not.

I could see Ikea working on Brentwood Blvd....if there was room for them someplace.

juiceinkirkwood · PostJul 02, 2009#2062009-07-02T11:19+00:00

^ A sculpture park? How do the 2 even half way compare? I've never heard anyone say "Well, we got an Art Museum...5 minutes before everyone stopped giving a damn about them." People will always give a damn about museums, the zoo, etc.

Alex Ihnen · PostJul 02, 2009#2072009-07-02T14:10+00:00

streetsabby wrote:
southsidepride wrote:I'm just worried this will be Planet Hollywood all over again.

St. Louis gets one five minutes before no one gives a damn about the place anymore.

very true. I'm afraid this will also happen to City Garden. Let's hope to heck not.

I could see Ikea working on Brentwood Blvd....if there was room for them someplace.

Hey, don't give Brentwood (or Richmond Heights) any ideas. They'll eminent domain the half of their towns that haven't been eminent domain if there is tax revenue to be had!

jdstl1977 · PostJul 02, 2009#2082009-07-02T14:38+00:00

A Peoria, IL distribution center for IKEA will improve St. Louis' chances of getting an IKEA store, but IF they even consider the St. Louis market it will most likely be located on the western periphery of the region and NOT in the City of St. Louis. If I had to bet money, I would say they'd put the store near one of the KC suburbs to avoid the cannibalization of the Bolingbrook, IL store that is possible with a St. Louis location.

chesterfieldkid03 · PostJul 02, 2009#2092009-07-02T16:35+00:00

I know that a couple years back Ikea was looking at few locations in St. Louis for a possible store location:

I-64 and Chesterfield Parkway West in Chesterfield

I-270 and Manchester Road in Des Peres

St. Louis Mills Mall in Hazelwood

A new possibility would be the Chrysler plant site in Fenton as it is shutting down soon and it's looking unlikely that they will be able to find a company to reuse the factory.

streetsabby · PostJul 03, 2009#2102009-07-03T17:43+00:00

Grover wrote:
streetsabby wrote:
southsidepride wrote:I'm just worried this will be Planet Hollywood all over again.

St. Louis gets one five minutes before no one gives a damn about the place anymore.

very true. I'm afraid this will also happen to City Garden. Let's hope to heck not.

I could see Ikea working on Brentwood Blvd....if there was room for them someplace.

Hey, don't give Brentwood (or Richmond Heights) any ideas. They'll eminent domain the half of their towns that haven't been eminent domain if there is tax revenue to be had!

Ooops! Sorry.

jcity · PostJul 06, 2009#2112009-07-06T03:16+00:00

I just don't understand how Charlotte and Pittsburgh have one and we don't Those cities are smaller than St. Louis. I suppose we're too close to Chicago?

jdstl1977 · PostJul 06, 2009#2122009-07-06T14:08+00:00

JCity wrote:I just don't understand how Charlotte and Pittsburgh have one and we don't Those cities are smaller than St. Louis. I suppose we're too close to Chicago?

IKEA doesn't care about how big your city is. The PLANET is their playground. They care about proximity to metropolitan areas, their trade areas are 100s of miles, (Charlotte has twice the population of St. Louis City, btw and is within a 13 county combined statistical area) and population growth (ours is at a near standstill). And, yes, we're too close to Chicago.

stlgasm · PostJul 06, 2009#2132009-07-06T17:26+00:00

jdstl1977 wrote:
JCity wrote:I just don't understand how Charlotte and Pittsburgh have one and we don't Those cities are smaller than St. Louis. I suppose we're too close to Chicago?

IKEA doesn't care about how big your city is. The PLANET is their playground. They care about proximity to metropolitan areas, their trade areas are 100s of miles, (Charlotte has twice the population of St. Louis City, btw and is within a 13 county combined statistical area) and population growth (ours is at a near standstill). And, yes, we're too close to Chicago.

City population doesn't mean jack. The St. Louis metro is nearly twice the size of Charlotte.

Cincinnati also has an IKEA.

dweebe · PostJul 06, 2009#2142009-07-06T17:43+00:00

Canned response I got from IKEA after emailing them.

Hello dweebe,

Thank you for your interest in IKEA. We are always happy to hear

from our customers.

In order to provide you with the quickest response to your inquiry,

this is an automated response. If this information does not provide a

response to your inquiry, please reply to this e-mail so we can

better respond to your request.

IKEA is finishing its aggressive expansion plan of 50 new stores. We

will currently focus on serving our existing markets, and then move

into new markets that we believe are compatible with the unique IKEA

concept. We already are on track for this year with the following

new store openings:

Brooklyn - Now Open

Charlotte - Now Open

Tampa - Summer 2009

Somerville - TBD 2009

At this time, we do not have specific opening dates; when detailed

information becomes available, it will be posted on our website.

IKEA is also in the process of proposing stores that will open in

2009 and 2010. Be sure to visit our website and stay tuned for store

locations as our plans become definite. For your convenience, we

have also provided the link to our store locator where you can stay

up to date with the latest IKEA store information:

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/ikny_splash.html

You can be the first to hear about special offers, the latest web

exclusives and more by subscribing to IKEA's email list:

http://info.ikea-usa.com/IkeaOptin/Registration.aspx

We hope this information has been helpful.

Best Regards,

IKEA Customer Care Center

justme123 · PostJul 06, 2009#2152009-07-06T18:30+00:00

JCity wrote:I just don't understand how Charlotte and Pittsburgh have one and we don't Those cities are smaller than St. Louis. I suppose we're too close to Chicago?

The cities may be smaller, but perhaps the larger metro market is larger. I think Pittsburgh has a larger population in terms of small/medium cities, college towns, etc within a 3 hour drive (or so) than St. Louis does.

jdstl1977 · PostJul 06, 2009#2162009-07-06T19:21+00:00

STLgasm wrote:
jdstl1977 wrote:
JCity wrote:I just don't understand how Charlotte and Pittsburgh have one and we don't Those cities are smaller than St. Louis. I suppose we're too close to Chicago?

IKEA doesn't care about how big your city is. The PLANET is their playground. They care about proximity to metropolitan areas, their trade areas are 100s of miles, (Charlotte has twice the population of St. Louis City, btw and is within a 13 county combined statistical area) and population growth (ours is at a near standstill). And, yes, we're too close to Chicago.

City population doesn't mean jack. The St. Louis metro is nearly twice the size of Charlotte.

Cincinnati also has an IKEA.

I already said IKEA doesn't care how big a city is. It's about metro areas and Charlotte's 13 county metro is on a par with St. Louis' with year over year growth. We can't say the same. Our growth is relatively tepid at best.

Also, look at Cincinnati on a map. It's nestled among several sizable metro areas. Not a close comparison.

IKEA knows St. Louisans will drive up to Bolingbrook. With the Joliet distribution center, a new IKEA will most likely go into a KC suburb.

chesterfieldkid03 · PostJul 06, 2009#2172009-07-06T20:17+00:00

jdstl1977 wrote:
STLgasm wrote:
jdstl1977 wrote:

IKEA doesn't care about how big your city is. The PLANET is their playground. They care about proximity to metropolitan areas, their trade areas are 100s of miles, (Charlotte has twice the population of St. Louis City, btw and is within a 13 county combined statistical area) and population growth (ours is at a near standstill). And, yes, we're too close to Chicago.

City population doesn't mean jack. The St. Louis metro is nearly twice the size of Charlotte.

Cincinnati also has an IKEA.

I already said IKEA doesn't care how big a city is. It's about metro areas and Charlotte's 13 county metro is on a par with St. Louis' with year over year growth. We can't say the same. Our growth is relatively tepid at best.

Also, look at Cincinnati on a map. It's nestled among several sizable metro areas. Not a close comparison.

IKEA knows St. Louisans will drive up to Bolingbrook. With the Joliet distribution center, a new IKEA will most likely go into a KC suburb.

I'm not buying this whole Chicago is to close thing. I think St. Louis, with a metro are of nearly 3 million people can handle an Ikea. If Chicago is to close to St. Louis for an Ikea store like you say, then what about these situations?

Los Angeles and San Diego both have Ikeas, with the distance only being a 1 hour drive.

Washington D.C. has 2 Ikeas, but Baltimore also has one.

Austin which is only a 3 hour drive from the already established Houston store, recently got an Ikea.

And Tampa is about to open an Ikea, even though it is only 1.5 hours away from the just opened Orlando Ikea.

Charlotte, as you mentioned above is getting an Ikea, even though Atlanta, which is only 4 hours away has one already.

All of situations above are either shorter, or just equal distance of St. Louis from Chicago. I really think this Chicago is too close to St. Louis to have their own Ikea is a crock, and I don't buy it.

jdstl1977 · PostJul 06, 2009#2182009-07-06T20:41+00:00

ChesterfieldKid03 wrote:
jdstl1977 wrote:
STLgasm wrote:

City population doesn't mean jack. The St. Louis metro is nearly twice the size of Charlotte.

Cincinnati also has an IKEA.

I already said IKEA doesn't care how big a city is. It's about metro areas and Charlotte's 13 county metro is on a par with St. Louis' with year over year growth. We can't say the same. Our growth is relatively tepid at best.

Also, look at Cincinnati on a map. It's nestled among several sizable metro areas. Not a close comparison.

IKEA knows St. Louisans will drive up to Bolingbrook. With the Joliet distribution center, a new IKEA will most likely go into a KC suburb.

I'm not buying this whole Chicago is to close thing. I think St. Louis, with a metro are of nearly 3 million people can handle an Ikea. If Chicago is to close to St. Louis for an Ikea store like you say, then what about these situations?

Los Angeles and San Diego both have Ikeas, with the distance only being a 1 hour drive.

Washington D.C. has 2 Ikeas, but Baltimore also has one.

Austin which is only a 3 hour drive from the already established Houston store, recently got an Ikea.

And Tampa is about to open an Ikea, even though it is only 1.5 hours away from the just opened Orlando Ikea.

Charlotte, as you mentioned above is getting an Ikea, even though Atlanta, which is only 4 hours away has one already.

All of situations above are either shorter, or just equal distance of St. Louis from Chicago. I really think this Chicago is too close to St. Louis to have their own Ikea is a crock, and I don't buy it.

Yeah, I wouldn't buy it either if I was just comparing driving distances to another city. Are you seriously comparing Los Angeles (metro area:13 million residents) and San Diego (5th wealthiest city) to St. Louis, MO? Hey, guess what, there are THREE!!! IKEA distribution centers practically on top of each other on the Eastern seaboard!!! We can't get one?!!

IKEA DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOUR CITIES! Jeez, read a post before you reply to it. THEY have the WHOLE PLANET to choose from. The volumes they operate at don't function at the municipal-level, we're talking gravitational models that use metropolitan areas as units.

jmstokes · PostJul 06, 2009#2192009-07-06T21:26+00:00

Am I the only one who would rather not see IKEA show up?

-huge buildings with massive amounts of parking

- "throwaway" furniture that contributes to pollution / global warming / whatever

- personally I think their stuff is ugly

I don't get the appeal, and I lived 10 minutes away from the Schaumburg store. I think I bought some hangers there once, and some swedish meatballs.

steve · PostJul 06, 2009#2202009-07-06T21:59+00:00

JMStokes wrote:Am I the only one who would rather not see IKEA show up?

-huge buildings with massive amounts of parking

- "throwaway" furniture that contributes to pollution / global warming / whatever

- personally I think their stuff is ugly

I don't get the appeal, and I lived 10 minutes away from the Schaumburg store. I think I bought some hangers there once, and some swedish meatballs.

Good point. While the style may be debatable, the quality is not. It's fairly shoddy stuff. It's sorta like Wal-Mart for yuppies; or, allowing people to enjoy their champagne tastes on a beer budget.

bronte16 · PostJul 06, 2009#2212009-07-06T22:12+00:00

Can't speak for all their furniture, but I haven't had to throw anything away. Several years ago I bought three huge bookshelf units on a trip to Chicago and I still have them. As an English teacher, I have hundreds of books and these IKEA bookshelves have done a great job of dealing with my overloading. I also have several lamps that I have had for years. So I am just saying that it's not all "crap" -- I think liking or hating IKEA's style is about just that -- style. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I like a lot of their stuff. I don't really care if they come here or not, though. I have all the furniture I need and even if I did need something at some point, I don't mind a road trip to Chicago.

ben1040 · PostJul 06, 2009#2222009-07-06T22:54+00:00

In my experience IKEA furniture certainly seems to be designed as disposable. If you dismantle one of their pieces to move it to a new place, it's nearly impossible to put it back together at your new house/apartment and have it be sturdy or stable. You only get one shot at hammering those wooden pegs into pressboard.

I like the way most of the stuff looks, but I quit buying it after my nice shelves became rickety shelves when I moved it to a new apartment.

stlmike · PostJul 06, 2009#2232009-07-06T23:06+00:00

Deciding to enter a new market isn't as simple as all this. In addition to the things you mention, major retailers factor in a whole lot of market research before approaching an area: they collect demographic data on the shoppers of their existing stores and contrast those demographics with the market in the new area. Then they they look at things like which other stores their shoppers tend to gravitate towards and judge whether or not those other stores exist in the new market and how well they have done. They probably attempt to determine whether or not the market is saturated (how many of retailers like them exist in the area?). They probably try to determine the overall retail success the area is producing and in what sorts of retail? Then, they may contrast these sorts of questions with the population, the average income of the population, maps of population density, maps of wealth density, etc. They may look at said maps and determine that their store may not do as well in the metro area as it would in another. It's not simply based on population or metro-population alone!

threeonefour · PostJul 07, 2009#2242009-07-07T03:33+00:00

stlmike wrote:Deciding to enter a new market isn't as simple as all this. In addition to the things you mention, major retailers factor in a whole lot of market research before approaching an area: they collect demographic data on the shoppers of their existing stores and contrast those demographics with the market in the new area. Then they they look at things like which other stores their shoppers tend to gravitate towards and judge whether or not those other stores exist in the new market and how well they have done. They probably attempt to determine whether or not the market is saturated (how many of retailers like them exist in the area?). They probably try to determine the overall retail success the area is producing and in what sorts of retail? Then, they may contrast these sorts of questions with the population, the average income of the population, maps of population density, maps of wealth density, etc. They may look at said maps and determine that their store may not do as well in the metro area as it would in another. It's not simply based on population or metro-population alone!

You said it well. It's not quite as simple as Greater St. Louis being larger than Charlotte (city or metropolitan area), or metro Charlotte growing at a faster rate than Greater St. Louis. And I think that's really all that needs to be said for now. Clearly St. Louis doesn't factor into their immediate plans, but I figure that could always change. I think St. Louis would be well-positioned for a store in the not-so-distant future, but it's also safe to assume based on the canned response (and the recession, in which even healthy companies are playing it safe) that it's not going to happen in the next couple of years anyway.

juiceinkirkwood · PostJul 07, 2009#2252009-07-07T17:33+00:00

JMStokes wrote:Am I the only one who would rather not see IKEA show up?

I couldn't care less, for one. I'm amazed people would drive to Chicago from here to buy furniture from them.

IKEA in St. Louis

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