urbanSTL

The more I hear about this place (never been to an IKEA), the more I tend to agree with you.

Sorry, but I totally disagree. I'm a big fan of IKEA for many different reasons, and personally for the $ the quality is *great.* They offer huge style for the price, and while I'd never do a home completely in their product, it mixes in well. I've put *many* of their items together, and I'm always amazed at how well thought out the packing, construction, etc. is. To me, it seems like it should cost way more than it does.



Regarding the sprawl comment, I never thought of them in that way, probably due to the fact that their product has such an urban look and appeals to city dwellers. Trust me, I'd *much* rather see and IKEA take a large chunk of land (with a parking lot the size of Six Flags) than another Walley World.



They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'd love to see one here!

DeBaliviere wrote:The more I hear about this place (never been to an IKEA), the more I tend to agree with you.

I can third that. I took a trip to Chicago all excited about going to IKEA for the first time and was thoroughly disappointed. The only thing I came back with was a bunch of clothes hangars. Now they were the nice wooden ones and cheap too but the majority of the stuff there was not that great of quality. BUT I still would like to see one in the St. Louis area.

Personally, I've purchased more decorative stuff (candles, posters and frames, etc.) from IKEA... I think you do have to consider that you are getting what you pay for so if you want the armoire made from real mahogany wood, you'll have to go somewhere else and pay for it...



I think most of the furniture looks fairly modern. I don't see that as a bad thing, but modern doesn't work for everyone. I think St. Louis will be fine without the IKEA -- I can go to the store when I return to visit Minneapolis.

Thought that the size requirements of this IKEA are interesting....guess they won't be opening one up in a city center anytime soon.



Ikea Adding Third Texas Location

By Brian K. Miller

Last updated: August 17, 2005 08:14am



ROUND ROCK, TX-Ikea has tied up 21.5 acres in this suburb north of Austin for a new store. Pending approvals and permits, construction should begin early next year and the new store should open in early 2007. The landowner is Endeavor Real Estate Group of Austin.



The would-be development site is at the southeast corner of the Interstate 35-Chandler Road interchange. The building is planned to be 252,000 sf and include four model homes, 50 room settings, a supervised children's play area and a 250-seat restaurant. The site has been designed with 1,100 parking stalls. Endeavor Group principal Chris Ellis did not return a phone call seeking comment.



The store will be Ikea?s third in the state. The company?s Frisco store opened earlier this month. The company?s store in Houston has been open since 1992 but moved to a new location this time last year. In addition to the temporary construction jobs, Ikea says the store will employ between 250 and 300 people when the store opens. IKEA currently has more than 215 stores in 33 countries, including 24 in the US. New stores are currently being planned for Bolingbrook, IL; Brooklyn, NY; Canton, MI; Dublin, CA; Somerville, MA; Stoughton, MA; and West Sacramento, CA..

This morning on Channel 2, they said Ikea was going to be part of the new Sunset Hills Development now.

I was at the Chicago IKEA twice this weekend (Schaumburg), and noticed on the way up 355W, that they're building another one in Bolingbrook. Further south!! IKEA is an awesome place that has furniture and living solutions that you just can't find anywhere else. I know its only a matter of time before St Louis gets one, I just hope its sooner rather than later!!

Can Northwest Plaza rebound?

Daniel Kelley

Of the Suburban Journals

North County Journal

02/15/2006



"Cafazza said the city and mall have been looking for another large department store to locate at the mall. She said there could be an announcement regarding a future tenant this week, after the Journal's press time."



>>>READ MORE

To me Northwest Plaza's major flaw is how spread out it is. If they really want it to succeed then they should tear it down and rebuild on a smaller footprint, going up if necessary. They could use the left over land for residential. Unfortunately St. Louis Mills was built on the same spread out model. One of the reasons people like strip centers is the convenience of close in parking.

I don't know what the big attraction is to IKEA. There stuff is very much form over function IMHO. We have a bunch of their stuff where I work...couches where the legs fell off, "fancy" glass-top desks that bend, drawers that keep sliding out and hardware that squeaks.



While I'm sure they'd be a fine addition for some part of town, I'm wondering how long they will be en vogue. Looks great in a store window and that's where I think it should stay. Of course I have the same opinion of Pier One Imports and they're still around.

I agree with you. Many go through phases or stages with design...I've been through minimalism, rustic country, post modern, futon, scandinavian, etc... Maybe as long as people keep moving through or up and out of design preferences, stores like IKEA will do well.

Stores like IKEA add prestige to a city. I was reading a article in one of the New York papers today about the first Trader Joes opening in the city and the citizens were fawning all over themselves at the prospect. Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom's, Whole Foods, Neiman Marcus and Starbucks are all other examples. Nowadays cutting edge retail is as important to retaining and attracting people to an area as museums and libraries were in times past.

STLbiggestfan wrote:Anybody else see the email from Mayor Slay entitled "Fellow Travelers?"



I can't figure out how to download the image here (did upload it to my computer though--that's a start), but check-out the picture sidebar to story about airport renovations. Image shows Ikea store and the airport control tower. When the picture is clicked, message reads, "Ikea at Lambert Airport." Can someone post the picture here?

it's posted here

southcitygent wrote:...Nowadays cutting edge retail is as important to retaining and attracting people to an area as museums and libraries were in times past.

You do realize the implications of that statement -- that we now value conspicuous displays of consumption more than enlightenment and sharing knowledge?



It's at least partly true, but it is sad. And the type of people who fawn over Trader Joe's and Crate and Barrell should know better.

I'd imagine that inserting IKEA was just a someone's way of "thinking big." The IKEA website lists store that will open in the coming year, no StL yet. I was just in the Boston IKEA and couldn't have been more disappointed. The only thing I might consider buying from ikea would be some lights. I really thought everything was increadibly cheap and it was almost sick how big the store was. I guess I'd still like to have one here just to have more options. The store in Boston is in an industrial, gravel pit area south of the city. A comparable place here may be the north riverfront.

I'm fairly certain that was sarcastic - it was a visual representation of this poll question:

What was your first reaction when you heard Mayor Francis Slay's recent announcement that Lambert Airport's terminal would be getting a major face-lift over the next five years?





"What took so long?"

"Hallelujah!"

"Just don't ruin the historic terminal building!"

"Who's going to pay for this?"

"Any chance we could get an Ikea there?"

Here's the pic:







And also on the same site, an in-flight "lapdog":







Don't read too much into it.



-RBB

^ That explains the IKEA in the picture. I guess a lot of us missed that poll question at first, because there's a whole thread devoted to it on the Urban Living forum.



My answer to the poll question: What took so long?

Random Ikea: this is one of my all-time favorite commercials. I wish I could come up with something like this:



http://bricco.org/videos/ikea-lamp.mov

I thought I had posted this before, but can't find it.



I was at the new Bollingbrook (Chicago) IKEA last year and sat in the dining area next to a couple of employees. I asked them about St. Louis and they heard it's on the list. In fact they sent a survey out asking department heads (and up) if they were willing to relocate to certain cities: and St. Louis was on the short list.



But apparently all management is built from within IKEA and that is one hurdle. Nobody is brought in from elsewhere to work in supervisor level. They don't care if you were a store manager at a top performing Best Buy, Home Depot or other big box retailer: you start at the bottom of IKEA and work through the ranks. So this puts a limit on expansion.

Grover wrote:I'd imagine that inserting IKEA was just a someone's way of "thinking big." The IKEA website lists store that will open in the coming year, no StL yet. I was just in the Boston IKEA and couldn't have been more disappointed. The only thing I might consider buying from ikea would be some lights. I really thought everything was increadibly cheap and it was almost sick how big the store was. I guess I'd still like to have one here just to have more options. The store in Boston is in an industrial, gravel pit area south of the city. A comparable place here may be the north riverfront.

I was in Atlanta 18 months ago the weekend when their new IKEA opened up. Even in Atlanta it was big news. I think it was the third story in on the nightly news, and front page of the Sunday newspaper.



It's location was an old industrial area in a pretty sketchy part of town. Also comparable to the north riverfront.



I'm not a fan of their stuff either as well as the size of their stores and parking lots. But if IKEA is willing to drop a store in some brownfield part of St. Louis and further spur urban deleopment: I'll swallow that bitter pill.

It's location was an old industrial area in a pretty sketchy part of town. Also comparable to the north riverfront.

I'd dispute that characterization. It's got Georgia Tech to one side, an area that's sort of a cross between the CWE and Clayton on another side, the hip restaurant district (Bacchanalia, etc.) close by, and tons of dense residential development almost adjacent. It's also convenient to the intersection of I-75 and I-85.



That said, there are some decent parallels to the now-announced-as-closing Federal Mogul site in Midtown.

bonwich wrote:

It's location was an old industrial area in a pretty sketchy part of town. Also comparable to the north riverfront.

I'd dispute that characterization. It's got Georgia Tech to one side, an area that's sort of a cross between the CWE and Clayton on another side, the hip restaurant district (Bacchanalia, etc.) close by, and tons of dense residential development almost adjacent. It's also convenient to the intersection of I-75 and I-85.



That said, there are some decent parallels to the now-announced-as-closing Federal Mogul site in Midtown.

You might be right: that was my first time in Atlanta and I never got to that area. But that's the way the press (both print and TV) was spinning it.

This headline from the Post got me excited and confused at the same time.

Breaking schmooze: Maplewood, Ikea and a Main Street makeover

Then I read the story and got ticked.

By Deb Peterson

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/15/2007



(P-D)



MAPLEWOOD + IKEA: This combo could equal success. The gigantic Swedish retailer is sponsoring a video contest, "Main Street Makeover," and of the dozens of entries from across the U.S., the submission from a group of Maplewoodians is in the top 10 and is the only one from Missouri. Top prize is a $50,000 IKEA makeover and $5,000 in cash. Lori Dowd of Ignite Communications produced and directed the 3-minute Maplewood video. It features several business people and takes a lighthearted look at the community's artistic energy, diversity and rennaissance. Edie Avioli of the Black Cat Theatre, Tiendo Centro Americana, D.B. Dowd of Ulcer City Studio, Danny Yokley of Yokley’s Hair Studio, Judi Roman of Roman Communications and Doug Kassabaum, artist and architect, are featured. Online voting will account for up 30 percent of the scoring and the folks of Maplewood hope to gather as many votes locally as possible. To vote go to: http://ikea.shycast.com/contestant/168/