IKEA has confirmed that they have found a site that’s feasible for building a store in Winnipeg. The location is said to accommodate the size of one of their typical stores, which can sometimes be up to 200,000 sq. ft., has enough room to handle parking, and has major route access.
IKEA wouldn’t say where their planned location will be, and they have yet to file any papers with the City of Winnipeg to obtain the land.
Normally the Swedish furniture giant would only build in cities with a population of 1 million or over, but IKEA says Winnipeg is a ‘tier 2’ market and believes a store here would be successful in drawing traffic from surrounding communities, including Saskatchewan. According to a prominent retail developer in the city, IKEA will not be here by next year.
Justin Phillips, a Winnipeg IKEA aficionado, has been trying to get the store to come to Winnipeg for years now. He launched the site IKEAinWinnipeg.com after his wife visited an IKEA in Toronto and was overwhelmed with the selection of products. Since then, Justin has been lobbying the corporate giant to consider Winnipeg as their next destination. It now looks like we’re one step closer.
Listen to the story below:
[audio:https://www.chrisd.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ikea-cbc-radio-nov-26-08.mp3]
— With files from CBC Radio’s Kathleen Martens
UPDATE: ChrisD.ca just received an e-mail back from a spokesperson for IKEA who says the store would most likely be built in the south end of the city, either on McGillivray Blvd. or Kenaston Blvd., but noted that no serious planning has started yet.
